Kingdom Hearts:A Light in the Dark
by Xethaden
Summary: The worlds are in danger including Destiny Islands. Sora has been seduced by the darkness and it's up to Riku and Kairi to save Sora and the other worlds from falling into darkness.
1. Don't Ever Change

This is another fanfic that I am trying to experiment with. This one is based off of Kingdom Hearts; and for the record I do not own any of the characters associated within this series which would be the series itself, Final Fantasy, and Disney. So for anyone who reads this let me know what you think of it. Anyways enjoy.

Plot: The worlds are in danger including Destiny Islands. Sora has been seduced by the darkness and it's up to Riku and Kairi to save Sora and the other worlds from falling into darkness.

On the coast of Destiny Islands a boy age 15 with spiky brown hair sits with his knees hugging his chest. Sobbing his heart out at the loss of his family, with only his friends left to support him. His name is Sora,

(Two Months ago; November 23, 2005)

Sora was walking home with his best friends from Destiny High. An auburn girl, and a silver haired boy accompanied him, sharing his laughter with he cares deeply about. The three of them later that day changed clothes and hung out on the island like they always do. They talked about wanting to explore other worlds together. "If there are other worlds out there, we'd know right?," Riku said jumping off a tree trunk.

Sora leans against the tree "I don't know."

"Exactly that's why we need to find out." Kairi turned to Riku with a giggling smile on her face. Riku changed so much in her eyes whenever they talked about adventuring through other worlds. Sora was no different, but she often considered him a 'lazy bum'. She had her own personal motives rather than just visiting other worlds. Riku went home early, which left Kairi and Sora alone as they watched the sun set. "Riku has changed a lot," Sora said.

"He sure has," Kairi replied. "Almost makes me wished I could see the old Riku again. Sometimes the memories of the past make living all the more memorable." Sora turned and admired her view of the relationship they had with one another. Sora agreed with her Riku had changed. So has Sora himself. Kairi too. They came a long way growing up together. Kairi noticed Sora was staring at her, but she saw it strangely in a good way. "Sora, you alright?," she asked. "Yeah I'm fine. Hey Kai?," she turned to Sora sitting on the ledge. "Do you remember what world you came from. I know we ask you this question a lot but, it's the only question I can ever ask, when I want know more about you."

"Like I said you lazy bum. I don't remember where I'm from. It's always hazy every time I think about it," Kairi was a bit saddened by thinking about where she came mayor of Destiny Islands adopted Kairi after she mysteriously washed ashore under mysterious circumstances.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel sad." Sora really didn't mean to hit Kairi's soft spot. Not knowing where you're from made Kairi feel out of place at time. She was like that when she first arrived on Destiny. She laughed at Sora's behavior, and she knew he didn't mean anything bad by it. She knelt down and hugged him and whispered in his ear "Sora, don't ever change." his blue eyes looked into hers. "The way you are. It makes me happy." Sora's face turned red at her words, as he looked away at her and back to the sunset and ocean.

Kairi inhaled and exhaled saying these words. "I can't wait until we set sail. It'll be great.

It was getting dark and the two friends decided to call it a day. Sora walked Kairi home before heading home himself. He couldn't help but replay the words she spoke to him. _'Sora don't ever change. It makes me happy'._ Sora had feelings for the auburn girl, but after she spoke those soft words Sora wondered if she had feelings for him in a similar way. He shrugged off those thoughts as he approached his house. But as he approached he felt a shift in the wind. Something dark surrounding the environment around him. He approached his door and when he placed his hand on the knob an image of a dark figure flashed before then disappeared. He turned the knob and opened the door, his heart sped up more and more with each movement causing his heart rate to increase, dreading what was on the other side. It was as if he already knew what was on the other side. The living room of the house was in full view to see a woman dead in a pool of her own blood. Sora turned pale and his blood froze at the sight. "MOM!," he rushed over to her and held his caretaker in his arms. He shook her and shouted for his mother to wake up and come back to him, but she could not hear him. Sora was beginning to have a mental breakdown. Who or what would or what do this? Hot tears began streaming down his face. The redness that overtook his eyes took away from the beauty of the blueness within them. "MOM!," he kept pouring his sorrow and anger out loud.

His screams were loud enough that Riku could hear him. Riku picked up the phone and called Kairi.

 _Kairi: Riku what's up?_

 _Riku: Sora's screaming._

 _Kairi: Did something happen?_

 _Riku: I don't know but I'm heading over to Sora to see if he's ok._

Riku hung up the phone, leaving Kairi in suspense. She had a feeling whatever happened to Sora it wasn't good.

Riku entered Sora's house. It was quiet too quiet. "Sora," he called out. He walked into the kitchen, no one was there. Riku headed into the living room and spotted Sora on the ground in the dark face down.

"Sora!," he ran over to his friend and picked him up and turned him over and felt his back was wet. It was blood. Sora was barely conscious. His eyes heavy, tears and blood fell from his body.

Riku grabbed his hand, and Sora struggled to keep his eyes open. But darkness soon envelopes him.

 _Sora those thoughts, he didn't want to get his hopes up for nothing. Sora was walking Kairi home, they just walked in silence. Both of them had things on their minds. "Sora is something wrong," Kairi asked. Sora snapped out his trance and looked over to her "Huh," he blinked his eyes multiple time. "You look like you've seen a ghost."_

" _It's nothing," he replied. She caught the hesitation in his voice. "You're lying," she said with a sinister smile on her face. Sora knew that look better than anyone, and it's one face that Sora feared. She could see Sora was hiding something, even if it wasn't obvious. She just knew him too well. "Out with it," she said. Sora kept his mouth glued shut. "Sora? What's wrong," Kairi asked worriedly._

" _I've been having these weird thoughts lately," Sora finally spoke._

" _About what?"_

" _I don't know really," Sora said truthfully. "I find myself drifting through utter darkness. That's all I can tell you really. Kairi looked to her friend worriedly. Sora hd a face that neither Kairi nor Riku ever saw him display. This caused Kairi's worry to increase even more. Normally Sora was able to put on a smile but his expression was different it was as if his smile never existed. Kairi waved goodbye to Sora, who waved back with his goofy grin as he ran home._

 _(Kairi)_

 _Kairi sat down on her bed in her night clothes wondering about her conversation she had with Sora. What he said kind of worried her. 'Sora drifting in darkness' she thought. Her best friend. 'No! Sora would never succumb to darkness. Neither would Riku!'_

" _The more you step into the light, the stronger your shadow becomes," saod a mysterious voice. Kairi picked her head up at the sound of a voice. "Who was that," she asked sounding very scared._

" _So little do you understand girl. Inside even the purest of souls, lies dormant a sentient conscious, that is filled with pure darkness. Even you. You can't run forever from whats to come," said the voice._

" _Whoever you are, you can't scare me. I'll never turn to darkness," Kairi shot back at the voice. The voice snickered with amusement._

" _ **So many like you, mistake defiance for courage. In time you will see that even the most pure can be undone."**_

Kairi eyes burst open. She was only dreaming, but the conversation felt so real. Her clock read 9:35. Kairi's phone rang and she answered it.

 _Kairi: Riku what's up?_

 _Riku: Sora's screaming._

 _Kairi: Did something happen?_

 _Riku: I don't know but I'm heading over to Sora to see if he's ok._

'Even the pure can be undone.' "SORA!" Kairi shouted grabbing her clothes and throwing on her coat, she ran out the door. She ran all the way to Sora's house, something didn't feel right. Nothing in her mind made any sense. So many emotions ran through her: fear, frustration, worry, for her friends health. At the sight of an ambience and police officers she ran to Riku, the most familiar face to her. But where was Sora?

"Kairi? What are you doing here?," Riku asked.

"The same reason you're here. Where's Sora?," Riku's grimaced biting his tongue. He didn't want to say anything, but as her friend he had to tell her. "Riku where's Sora!?"

"Sora and his mother were attacked and… Sora's mother is gone," he finished.

"Wha… what!?," Kairi's eyes widened in horror and her eyes had tears streaming down her cheeks. She felt Riku pulled her in for a comforting hug, but it didn't work. She was in a state of panic. "And Sora?"

"He's in bad shape," this hurt for Riku to speak these words to her. "He was slashed in the back multiple times."

"Is he going to be ok!?," Kairi screamed.

Riku pulled her closer and held her tighter. "They say it will be a miracle," he replied which it felt like Kairi's heart broke.

(Sora's Dream)

 _Sora was drifting through darkness, descending neverending darkness. His feet planted themselves on a structure with one large circle and 3 or 4 smaller ones. The large one had him in it in what appears him to be sleeping, the other four showed the faces of Kairi and Riku, and two other unknown faces of a dog and a duck? Sora opened his eyes "Hello? Kairi! Riku!," he shouted. "Mom!?"_

" _ **No one can hear you in the dark,"**_ _a voice said._

" _Who's there? Where am I!?," Sora yelled. The voice said nothing for a while then Sora started to get irritated and yelled at it again. "Answer me, where am I!? Where are my friends!?"_

" _ **Like I said earlier Sora, you're in the dark. More specifically your darkness. Your thoughts"**_

 _Sora felt chills run along the back of his spine at the cold flat toned voice. "How do you know my name?"_

" _ **Do I spell it out for you?,"**_ _a shadow that was completely black with demonic yellow eyes appeared behind Sora, catching him by surprise. Sora was frozen in place, taking in the appearance of the shadow. The shadow and Sora look practically identical. "_ _ **I'm you."**_

" _Let me out of here!," Sora demanded._

" _ **Certainly, but first,"**_ the shadow snapped his fingers. Sora felt Darkness grab him from underneath and drag him under, the next thing he knew he heard familiar voices call out to him one masculine and one feminine.

"Sora!," they said redundantly.

"Kairi! Riku," Sora kept yelling but he couldn't reach out to them. _'What kind of sick game is this?' he thought._

 _Turning around he saw mysterious creatures appear from the ground. They were small shadows with two antenna, with yellow eyes, but were small. Sora's shadow appeared from behind him and summoned a blade with a black blade that looked like a key, but had a purple gem in the center and planted it into the ground then stepped back a few inches._ _ **"If you want to see your friends again, then strike them down," the shadow said.**_ _With no hesitation Sora picked it up and did not waste any time slashing at the shadows that rushed him. One by one the shadows vanished as they were cut down. When Sora slashed the last of the shadows, another one jumped him, Sora stabbed him, but it wasn't a shadow he stabbed it was…. Kairi?_

 _Sora jumped back at what he had just done. He stabbed someone he cared about in the chest. He didn't know, he never knew it was her. He was certain it was a shadow… wasn't it. Befor Kairi fell flat on her face, Sora was able to catch her._

" _Sora," she said weakly._

" _Am I the one who did this to you?" but he got no response. "Kairi? Kairi!," Kairi then faded into the darkness. Sora felt frustration, sadness, and rage coursed through him._

" _ **Good show, Sora,"**_ _he then chuckled out loud amused to see Sora in so much pain._ _ **"Wasn't that fun? We had fun right?"**_

" _Shut up," he said quietly_

" _ **What was that? I couldn't hear you."**_

" _I said SHUT UP," Sora's eyes turned from the beautiful ocean blue to demonic yellow for an instant. "I'm going to kill you!," Sora then rushed at his shadow again with the same blade he used to stab Kairi with. The shadow just stood there as if he intentionally wants Sora to stab him. "Gotcha!," he yelled triumphantly._

" _ **Or did you now?,"**_ _the shadow was standing over there behind him._

' _Then who did I," Sora's heart fell apart. When he saw Riku lay dead right in front of him. First Kairi now Riku. Sora broke down and collapsed letting the blade fall of the edge and into the darkness. Clenching his teeth and his fist, and launched himself at the shadow, but he failed. A dark aura surrounded him. An aura filled with hate and pain. Memories flowed through him, as if he was traveling at lightspeed through the stars. Those happy memories are seemed not existent to him anymore. Sora's eyes were full on yellow now, the blues he once had were gone. Then a bright light began to appear, getting brighter and brighter…_

" _ **We'll meet again,"**_ _the shadow said as he dissipated not to be seen ever again._

I decided to end the chapter here, so this is what I have conceived through much thinking and planning. So let me know what you think. Thank you for those who took the time to read chapter one. I will begin chapter as soon as possible.

Cya!


	2. This is Real

_Here is Chapter 2 of "From Darkness to Light". For anyone who has reviewed my first chapter I thank you for being my first reviewers. I had a lot of fun writing that chapter and I do encourage more reviews for future chapters and works. Now here's chapter 2._

(One Month Ago; December 24, 2005)

It was another day at school for Kairi and Riku without a certain someone, who was still hospitalized. It had been a month and Sora was still in a coma, with no guarantee of waking up or if he will ever wake up anytime soon. Riku and Kairi were just out of it, out of concern for their friend. They were always visiting Sora whenever they could. The visits hurt them more than helped them. Seeing their friend in his pale, limp, and weak state. As peaceful as he may look, Kairi and Riku were anything but at peace.

Riku and Kairi embarked for Destiny Islands still hoping to find something to take their mind off of everything that happened a month ago. It was winter break all their friends were playing, and struggling with each other. Riku and Kairi sat in their normal spot like always, staring out into the ocean.

"How did this happen?," Riku asked. Neither of them had words to say, although they asked themselves constantly.

"Worrying about it constantly isn't going to help." they turned around to see Wakka, Tidus, and Selphie walking up to them. "You just need some distraction to take your mind off of it," said Tidus.

"Tidus is right, ya," said Wakka. "This isn't healthy."

"Can you blame us? Sora is the closest thing we have to a brother. His mother's gone, and we don't want to lose him too," Kairi exclaimed.

"What Kai is saying, is that we just want him to come back," Riku added.

"He'll come back!," said a very cheerful Selphie. Both Kairi and Riku were taken back by her enthusiasm. Why was she so happy? "If Sora taught us anything,it is to just keep smiling. A smile makes everything better." Selphie snapped her fingers and a idea popped in her head "Why don't we have a brawl, you know like we use to do."

"I like it," said Tidus.

"I'm down," Wakka took after Tidus. "Sure," said Riku "It beats doing nothing," Riku jumped off the branch he was sitting on.

After thirty minutes of brawling with their friends Riku defeated all of them, by himself. It was refreshing to see he hasn't lost his rhythm after a month. Then again this wouldn't be the first time he defeated his friends. When they were younger Selphie, Tidus and Wakka challenged Riku 3 on 1 and he took down all three of them. 'This brings back memories,' Riku thought.

"Even after all these years dude, you still got it," Wakka said getting up. "We don't get how you're so good at this." 

"I practiced a lot… with Sora." Sora was the only person who rivaled Riku. The first time Sora defeated Riku, jaws dropped instantaneously. "We struggled everyday out here, playing soldier, racing from one end of the island to another. Everything we've done together was a competition." The others could see how much Riku was missing having Sora around. Kairi thought about what life was like for them before she met them. When she met both him and Sora, there were questions that she never asked about them. Suddenly Riku turned around and walked away from the group, leaving them confused by Riku's action.

Riku walked behind the waterfall to a secret place. A place that has been there for who knows how long. Riku walked further into the cave and ran his hand along walls, touching every picture scribed by him, Sora and, Kairi. Every picture meant something special to them. Especially the one in the center underneath a mysterious door. A picture with the three of them, a triad resembling resembling their friendship. Riku heard footsteps approaching from behind, but he already knew who it was. He turned around to see her short- hair auburn friend, and gave a smile "Brings back memories doesn't it?"

"I remember this cave being empty. Coming back now every now and again, makes me appreciate what the three of us share together," Kairi said giving a smile back to her friend. "To think we could fit more pictures up in here, makes it all the more special."

"I feel ya," Riku replied. "There is a second reason why this place is special to me, and it took place on the day before we met you." Curiosity grew on Kairi's face, finally feeling like one of her questions she never asked finally be answered. She gestured him to continue. "We made a vow to ourselves, that once we were older we would get off this island and travel. Anywhere, far away from here. We made that vow here in this very spot, in front of this door."

Kairi never knew how deeply Riku felt about this. Hearing him say this, was going to make their dreams a reality all the more sweeter. Kairi then turned her attention to the door behind him. "You ever wonder what's on the other side of this door?," she asked.

"Always have, and never got an answer. But it's a given it goes somewhere that's not here."

Kairi gave a smile and walked away, with Riku following her. She turned around for a moment "Hey. Riku? Can you teach me how to brawl?" Riku never thought she would ask that question, not because she's a girl, but because she never showed interest in fighting. Hearing the stories about Sora and Riku brawling felt all the more reason to learn.

"Sure," he said. "I'll teach you," Kairi little on words ran to Riku giving him a hug.

"Thank's Riku," she said.

"No problem. And don't worry Sora will be ok, as Selphie said." The two of them exited the cave back toward the beach.

(Disney Castle)

Far across open space, in a world full of light and magic, stands Disney Castle. Within the halls of the castle walks Donald Duck, and Goofy who were heading to the throne room to meet the king. "Gawrsh," Goofy then yawned "this meeting must be important if the king is summoning us this late," he finished.

"Must be, because I'm too sleepy to argue," Donald replied. After walking up a large column of stairs they turned right and entered the throne room. The king and queen were already waiting for them inside. Including Daisy, Donald's sweetheart.

"Good evening or morning your majesties," Donald was incredibly tired.

"I'm sorry to wake you two at such an hour, but we have a problem. Pete has escaped," Mickey said. Donald and Goofy's eyes widened at the news.

"Whaaat!," Donald yelled. "How is this possible?"

"I don't know, but Pete couldn't have broken out on his own. Something bigger is afoot," the King reached into his pocket and handed them a message. "I received a message from a friend of mine, and I have to go meet him right away. I need you two watch the castle, while I'm gone."

"You can count on us your majesty!," Goofy saluted followed by Donald.

"I knew I could count on you two. I'll be back as soon as I can." the King exited the throne room, leaving Daisy, donald, Minnie, and Goofy alone to process what they heard. They locked up Pete in a dimension, because he had been charged with treason and flirting with dark forces. Whoever helped Pete escaped made them all worry even more.

"Gwarsh, how do you think Pete got out?," Goofy asked them.

"The more important question is who would be strong enough to break him out?," Minnie asked. "Pete is no threat by himself." She would be right as strong as Pete maybe, he is reckless, pig headed, and is seen as an egotist by most of his peers.

Minnie felt another pair of hands on her shoulders "Let's just get some rest, we can think about it in the morning," Daisy said. Donald and Goofy nodded in approval, then they exited the throne room. Walking back to their rooms, Donald and Goofy were worried about the Pete problem. They looked at each other with about a hundred questions. "Goofy," Donald called.

"Yeah Donald," he replied.

"I got a bad feeling about this," Donald said as he gulped.

(Destiny Islands: December 25, 2005)

Kairi stretched her arms out and covered herself back up in the blankets, hoping to get more sleep. Bu she realized that it was Christmas. She wasted no time getting up, showering, putting on clothes and heading downstairs, only to notice the mayor was waiting for her downstairs. He had long blue hair, and blue eyes.

"Morning Kairi," he said. She sprinted to him and hugged him tight. "Merry Christmas," he wrapped his arms around her.

"Merry Christmas," she replied and pulled away from him. She was lucky to have him for an adopted father. He was kind, sweet, just like she was.

"I brought you this," he handed her a small green box with a red ribbon on it. She opened the box and within its contents was a silver pendant. "I gave my other daughter the same one. I figured I should do the same for yo. You are like a daughter to me too," he had lost his first daughter and wife after the first two years of her birth. Sharing this with Kairi, this very pendant he gave his other daughter made the two of them tear up.

"I never asked. But what was your daughter's name?"

"Yuna."

"Pretty name," Kairi replied. Her father smiled at her. "Thank you," she gave him another hug. I made you this. It's a lucky charm. I made one for Sora and Riku, but I made this one for you." She handed him the charm that was star shaped, multiple shades of blue that glistens constantly. "Love you," her adopted father hugged her as tight as she could.

"Love you too. By the way Riku came by earlier this morning. He said to meet him on the islands as soon as you can." A little confused as to why Riku wanted her to meet him on the islands, she headed out right away.

Kairi met Riku at the beach and the two of them embraced each other in a hug. "Merry Christmas, Kai."

"Merry Christmas, Riku."

"Follow me," he said.

"To where?," she asked.

"You present." He led Kairi to the door of the secret place. "Now wait here," a smile began to form on his face "I'll be back," he trailed off to go get her present. She didn't know what was going on with Riku, but it reeked of fishiness, some of which made her raise her eyebrows in suspicion. She turned back to the door,still wondering why Riku made her stand blank face in front of it. So instead of staring at the door, she stared at the picture they scripted together. The triad Sora, Riku, and she created when she first came to Destiny Islands. Running her hand over it, she she pictured in her mind that the three of them were talking and scribing on the wall. Just remembering the feelings she shared with them brought a warmness to heart and a smile to her face.

' _Sora,"_ she thought inwardly for a moment 'will you ever come back?" she said out loud.

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Kairi's jerked her head up, and her eyes opened dangerously wide in response to the voice that she couldn't believe she was hearing. Was it really? She turned around to meet a brown spiky haired boy with blue orbs, and a mild subtle smile on his face. All Kairi did was stare at him, like he was a ghost. Her friend who she believed would never wake up was standing right in front of her.

"Sora," Kairi said still standing in her one spot.

Sora held up his hand and waved "Hi Kai,." With little to no reaction time, faster than Sora can anticipate she squeezed her arms around his waist putting her head in his shoulder.

All she could say was "This is real."

 _There is chapter 2 of Light in the Dark. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, so I hope you guys enjoy. For anyone who reads this, I thank you for taking the time to read this._

 _Hope you guys enjoy, and take it easy._


	3. Shadow

Thank you for those who supported me in the first two chapters. I realized that in the description of my second chapter is that I got the name of my title wrong (embarrassing I know), The fic is called _A_ _Light in the Dark_. Silly mistake on my part. Anyway here is the next chapter and I hope you guys enjoy.

Disclaimer I do not own Kingdom Hearts, but I do own my OC's

(Destiny Islands; December 25, 2005)

Kairi flung herself to Sora,who was almost knocked down by the sheer force of her initial hug. Sora was sort of light in terms of weight and awareness, from a combination of not eating for a month, and just waking up. With whatever strength he had he brought his one arm around Kairi and returned the embrace. She eventually let go, Kairi took a few paces back to get a good look at Sora, who looked different in some cases. He looked pale probably just from his lack of energy, had a warm and casual smile, not the goofy one he would put on display, and his eyes. There was something different about Sora that she could see just by looking into his eyes. She got a sense of fear in them along with: sadness, pain, anger, willfulness, and confliction?

Sora however reached back out for her, and pulled her back in and squeezed as tight as he could. It was as if he was afraid of letting her go. A massive wave of relief washed over him, breathing in and out as if he had trouble breathing on his own. Between the nightmares and what he was seeing in front of him, he couldn't tell if this was real or not. Kairi felt how uneasy Sora was, and wrapped her arms back around him. They were both relieved for each other. After two minutes of holding each other, Sora finally loosened his grip on her.

"How do you feel," Kairi asked.

Sora rubbed the back of his head sheepishly with his new casual smile. "Ok," he was little on words right now. "You?"

"Great. I'm just happy you're here," she said. Sora rubbed the back of his head a little when he ended up stumbling backwards into the wall. It was proof that Sora was weak in his current state. "Are you alright?," she asked worriedly, running over to him, kneeling down in front of him.

"I'll be alright. Just a little vertigo," he replied trying his hardest to stand back up.

"Are you sure," she asked even more worried.

"Positive!," he replied.

Riku approached them "Just take it easy. I'd hate to see you back in the hospital again." Sora nodded his head as a sign of compliance.

"Now that the reunion is over, let's head outside," Riku said as he walked away from them heading out to the beach. Kairi and Sora followed right behind him.

Sora had one whole month to catch up on. Riku and Kairi told Sora, what happened in the past month. "Wait when did that happen?," they were telling Sora about how Kairi wanted to learn how to brawl.

"Yesterday, when we were in the Secret Place," Riku said. Was the Secret Place becoming some sort of holy site for the three of them; or do the most treasured moments happen to occur there. Meanwhile Sora was facing downward out toward the ocean, trying to see above the horizon. It pained him that he couldn't see beyond what was right in front of him. Despite how he was feeling, he still had the spirit to travel to other worlds with his friends. After his near-death experience, he was more determined, than he was a month ago. "Are we still doing it," Sora's question got Riku and Kairi's attention. "Are we still going to see it all?," he finished his question.

"Of course we are. The three of us made a vow remember?" Riku asked to Sora. He was right,  
The three of them did make a promise, but Sora felt like this wasn't going to be a journey, that they would make together as friends. Somehow he just knew.

A few hours go by and the three friends part ways for the afternoon. Riku convinced his parents to let Sora stay with them. They even considered legally adopting Sora, but Sora felt his stomach knot up at the very thought of it. He wouldn't mind it, but he still is trying to come to the fact that his mother is gone. While still in his coma, he constantly heard his mother's voice and thought about her. Her laugh, her beautiful face, her brown hair, her blue ocean eyes. He looked so much like his mother. The very thought of her being dead weighed heavily on him. _"Mom,"_ he thought. As they slept in Riku's room under the moonlight, Sora tossed and turned in an attempt to get comfortable. "No. get away from me," his thoughts that were said in his head soon were said out loud in his sleep. Riku rushed to Sora and shook him frantically.

"Sora! SORA, WAKE UP," Riku yelled. Sora's eyes burst open dangerously wide, with sweat dripping down the sides of his face.

"Oh," Sora was panting trying to catch his breath "It.. It was only a dream," Riku took it as an understatement though.

"More like a hellish nightmare! You nearly kicked my face off," Sora put on a guilty smile at Riku's outburst. "Are you sure your heads in the right place?," Riku's tone softened a bit.

"I'm ok . It was just a nightmare.," Sora said. Taking a deep breath Riku walked back to his bed and went to sleep as soon as possible. Still looking back over his shoulder, he couldn't help but worry. Riku wasn't fooled by Sora false sense of happy humor. Something about him, didn't sit well with him.

(Disney Castle)

Everyone in Disney Castle went about their daily duties in the Mickey's absence. That doesn't mean that there wasn't a second where people didn't worry about his safe return. It's been nearly a month since Mickey departed from the castle, and no one has heard a word from him. Donald, Goofy, Minnie, and Daisy haven't heard from him. And they would have been the first to know.

"Do you think the Kings alright," Donald asked.

"It's been nearly a month," Minnie said "at this point there's no telling," the others just remained silent.

"The king said he was meeting up with someone," Goofy said.

"But he never told us who," Donald replied. Goofy just scratched his head.

Later as the sun set, and stars began to shine; Goofy was doing one last patrol around the castle. He was also gazing at the sky and it's many stars that twinkled in the dark sky. The skies at Disney Castle, were beautiful at night. However this was one stargazing tour that Goofy wouldn't remember it to be. One of the stars went out. He was hoping it was his eyes playing tricks on them. Rubbing both his eyes and staring back up into the sky, it magically reappeared. "Gawrsh, maybe I'm just tired or something," he thought. He walked back into the castle, and little to his knowledge the star went out. This time permanently.

(Destiny Islands: Present Day; January 14, 2006)

Sora had been out of it. Like really out of it. Behavior that didn't go unnoticed by his had become quiet and distant from not only Kairi and Riku, but everyone in school. After walking home with Riku, he immediately went to sleep, and never leaves the room, until the next morning. While he does sleep, more images of the death of his friends continue to haunt in every corner of his sleep.

While walking with his friends home from school, he began to breathe more heavily as if he could not control his breathing. Every few seconds Sora stayed behind a little just adjust. His vision soon became blurry and an image flashed before his eyes. His own mother being killed right in front of him.

"Sora," yelled Riku. "SORA!," Sora's eyes burst open his forehead coated heavily in sweat. Both of which friends were holding him for support. "Sora, can you hear me," Riku said in a softer tone.

Finally Sora said something "What… What happened," he asked his two friends.

"It looks like you blacked out," Kairi said holding Sora tighter. "You had us worried."

Sora forced himself up on his feet only to fall back a little nearly falling over only to be caught. "Easy there," Riku said. They immediately caught Sora's heavy breathing.

"Sora," Kairi started "is something wrong?," she asked.

""M-Mom. Seeing her face. Hearing her laugh. Looking at me. Her glare," Riku and Kairi knew what the first part meant. But his mother's glare was something they couldn't understand of what Sora was trying to say.

"Let's get you home," his auburn friend said.

"As soon as Riku and Kairi put Sora into bed, Kairi paced her way home. Her father was getting worried and she didn't want to keep him waiting. Riku understood that, Sora would too.

She was in her room trying to seek a distraction away from Sora. Her mind was in a million miles in different directions, unable think, rationalize, So many paranormal events like the death of Sora's mother, a voice that can't be defined. She decided that she needed to go to sleep, and visit Sora in the morning. At the moment she felt sick enough to throw up. Luckily for her it never happened.

(10:45; Destiny Islands)

Wind picked up around the neighboring islands. Blowing ferociously like fire sweeping away all life. Trees had begun to uproot, and the tides were picking up slamming inland to every building.

Last but not least there was a slam of lighting.

Kairi woke up and closed her window. The winds knocked over everything in her room, scattering everything on the floor, even the pendant her father had given her. She looked out the window and immediately at first glance thought it was a hurricane but, it wasn't. She also spotted a large orb of darkness floating above the main island where she and her friends hung out.

Meanwhile the storm had woken up Riku and several other nearby residents. Riku tried to turn on his light, but the power went out when the lightning strike hit. Tossing and turning his head he noticed a certain someone was not in his bed. Sora disappeared. Getting up and checking the hallway, then downstairs there was no trace of him anywhere. But he did notice the front door was open. Which could only mean… _'No no no no,"_ he thought as he was scrambling to find the nearest phone. Panic was setting in, Riku and Kairi.

"No signal," so he sent her a text if it would go through. Riku said nothing else after putting on a white shirt, blue coat, and beige jeans, and grey shoes barreling out of the safety of his home. He hoped Sora was alright. 'Sora what were you thinking?

Kairi's phone went off upon receiving Riku's text. She jumped a little from lightning and wind knocking everything from one end of the island to the next. She opened the text and a shocks of fear ran through her body.

 _Riku: Sora went out into the storm. Went out to look for him_

Kairi couldn't believe what Riku was doing. She couldn't tell what he was doing was stupid or plain stupid. Riku went out to look for Sora in the middle of all this? It was suicide.

"Ok. Ok. What am I going to do?," she was beginning to panic. She almost Sora once. And she definitely didn't want to lose him or Riku at the same time. Without thinking she grabbed her white shirt, purple jacket, dark grey jeans, and shoes, quickly putting them on. She even put on some black gloves Riku had given her a year ago. They were open finger gloves, but they would keep her hands warm for the most part. One thing she would not forget was the necklace her adopted father had given her. Her heart sank as she thought about not returning to him. As she gripped the necklace in her hand in a tighter grip, her heart clenched in conflict. She had to go find her friends, but she couldn't leave him.

"If you're going to go, now is the time," Kairi turned around spooked to see her father waiting in the doorway. "I won't stop you," he said bluntly. Was he really saying this? He was letting the closest thing he had as a daughter go!

"How long have you been standing there?," she asked.

"Long enough."

"You're not mad?"

Her father walked over to her and kneeled down "I'll be a little upset. But I'd be more upset if you lost people you care about. Trust me I know the feeling all too well." Kairi knew he was referring to Yuna and her mother.

"It's just so hard. I never thought leaving would be this difficult," Kairi said as sobs emanated from her mouth.

Her father pulled her close for a hug. "I want you remember something," He sighed before he continued. "No one never knows when they're ready to leave something behind. And it's hard for us not to see the consequences. That's just life. But it can make you stronger. Like with you and me." Kairi held her head up into her father's eyes. "After I lost Yuna, my world just crumbled. I've been through things any father would feel, when they lose the ones they love. I just didn't want anything to go through that again." He gripped her tighter in his arms. "Then I met a little girl one day, while I was strolling the coast. I found you crying and afraid. To be honest, I don't know what came over me when I chose to adopt you. But I'm glad I did. You know why?"

"No," she said.

"Remember our saying?"

They said in unison "Give each other light."

"I wanted you to have my light, because it made me happy again, knowing you were. Someone you know needs your light."

' _Sora,"_ she thought."When a friend needs me to be there, I'll be there. Even if I have to knock some sense into them." Her father laughed at her new enthusiasm.

"Hey be safe." He gave her one last hug. "Remember wherever you go I'm always with you." After that and grabbing her necklace, and heading out the door into the perils of the night.

She was lucky enough to make it to the island with her skin intact, as the waves rocked her boat in swiftly dangerous motions. The waves threw her onto the beach. Quickly shaking it off she went to search for her friends.

"Sora! Riku!," she shouted. Then she began to run to any location where she might be able to find her friends. She checked the shack first, the only place where it would be safe on the island when disasters would occur. When Kairi checked to see if anyone was in there, no one was in there. So they have to be on another part of the island. As she nearly made it to the entrance to the Cove a voice spoke out to her. _'Don't be afraid,"_ it said. Kairi shook off the voice, because it wasn't on her mind right now. At least it wasn't the voice from before. She opened the entrance to the cove only to hear it again. _'The more closer you are to your goal, the more darkness that awaits you. The more closer you step into the light the more powerful your shadow becomes.'_ Then small black creatures emerged from the ground, with pure yellow eyes. More than ten began to emerge, Kairi began to sprint further away, to anywhere. While jumping to off the edge and running toward the small sailboat that usually sat there, she ran into something big and fell on her bum.

"Kairi!?," it was Riku. He offered her his hand which she gladly accepted and stood up. "What are you doing here."

"Looking for you and Sora."

"It's dangerous here!," he yelled.

"That didn't stop you!," she countered. Riku backed off after her comment. "Have you found Sora?"

"No," he replied "I haven't. Where is he?," Riku dug his hands in his hair out of frustration.

"Fuck, where else could he have," before she could finished more shadows appeared from the ground. "Riku run!," she shouted. They ran back to the beach, then ran back to the place where they hung out. Then they saw him.

Sora was standing underneath the dark orb floating above the island. Planted in one spot, he gared aimlessly into the warring seas beating against the harsh, as his mind wandered into a deep abyss. An abyss that resembles a void that was now a hollow seed in his heart. He heard people calling his name but didn't recognize them. He turned to see an auburn girl and a silver haired boy running across the bridge towards him. _'Those voices. Who do they belong to. And who is Sora?'_ he asked himself.

"Sora? You had us worried!," Kairi exclaimed. Sora continued to stare with no emotion at the two people before him. "Sora?," now Kairi was getting worried. Riku looked into Sora's eyes and noticed they were off. Like very off.

"Sora, what's going on?" Riku asked.

"Who is Sora?," he replied. Kairi and Riku were dumbfounded by Sora's response, and felt their hearts sink to a new level. "Who is this Sora?" he asked again this time his eyes turned demonic yellow. Riku and Kairi stepped back a little as an evil aura was in their presence. " **My name is Shadow,"** he finally spoke after a brief silence, a new mixed voice of Sora's and his inner darkness took control. Riku and Kairi's eyes dilated to a dangerous level. Kairi herself felt cold, not from the weather but from the presence of darkness in front of her.

Sora said nothing as he was lifted into the air and disappeared into the orb.

Sorry for the long delay. I haven't been writing much lately. So for anyone who has been waiting. I apologize for the wait. Anyways hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Take it easy, and stay cool.


	4. You Can Have My Light

_Hey I'm back with the next installment of the 'Light in the Dark'. I am having so much fun writing this story. And I appreciate everyone who took the time to read the story. I will update as soon as possible. I still have plenty of time to write more before I return college in a month from now. But I will update whenever possible. If you have any comments or opinions on the story please leave them at the end of the chapter._

 _Now. Dang it I had something to yeah. Time to read!_

As Kairi and Riku watched their friend disappear, tentacles of darkness, wrapped around their feet. They struggled against the pull of the darkness. Soon they found it harder to breath as they were slowly being dragged underneath. "Ri-Riku," Kairi reacher her hand out, and Riku did the same. Reaching out and nearly being swallowed by darkness.

' _Don't be afraid. Show your strength,"_ then a massive light shined. Kairi and Riku were freed, and both of them had mysterious weapons in their hands. Riku's weapon was curve-shaped, with a red pattern that followed it. Kairi's blade was shaped like a key with a beige pattern. The hilt had one side that had the ocean, while the other half resembled the sunset. "What the…,"

' _The time has come. Head for the door."_

More shadows began to appear in front of them ready to strike "Do you think these will help?," Kairi asked.

"Let's just hope these things are more effective than a wooden sword," Riku said as one jumped at him. Riku slashed his keyblade across the shadows torso and it faded. "It worked!," Kairi looked at Riku with a determined look on her face. She knew the lessons Riku gave her would come in handy one day, but not in a situation like this. She was doing really well. Far better than what she expected of herself. The shadows kept coming one after the other, when another was destroyed. As they kept hacking down the dark creatures, they made their way over to the entrance to the secret place, hoping to get some breathing space.

"Keep going," they ran up to the entrance when a lightning bolt struck the tree above the entrance falling right behind them. "Well, we're not getting out that way," Kairi said.

"Looks that way. What is going on?," neither of them knew the answer. All they had were questions. "What happened to Sora?" Their blood just chilled just thinking about Sora. They knew Sora had problems, but not as bad as not remembering his friends. Riku and Kairi couldn't believe what Sora said. If that boy was even Sora. To them it sure didn't sound like him.

The door in the Secret place started to glow, causing Riku and Kairi to shield their eyes from the light. When the light faded there was a dark hole in the doorway.

"What is that," Kairi approached the hole slowly, but Riku stopped her when a sound come from it. A really shallow ominous noise had them standing on edge. Then a massive force of air pushed them out of the secret place. The next thing they knew, everything went black.

(Disney Castle the same night)

Donald and Goofy were called to the throne room, and what seemed to be as if it was an emergency they they entered the throne room, Minnie and Daisy were waiting in the center of the room, with muskateers lined up on both sides. "Your majesty," they said in unison. She cut right to the chase about what their task was going to be. "Has there been any word from the King?," she asked. They all traded looks, but everyone knew what the answer was.

"Bhaaa!," shouted the duck. "I can't take waiting anymore," Donald like many others wanted to object to his outburst but they had to face the facts. The king's been gone for a few months, has not been checking in with his officials, plus everyone was losing their last nerve. When was the King going to come back home?

"That's why I called you here," Donald and Goofy looked at each other in confusion before looking back at the queen. "I'm charging you two with the task of finding him. I need you two to find out where he's gone to."

"Uhh easier said than done. He never said where he was going, except to meet a contact." Then a lightbulb went off in everyone's brain. "You highness, did the King leave any notes, talking about a contact?"

"The note that he left was very vague," Daisy said. She handed them the note.

' _Dear King Mickey of Disney Castle_

 _More worlds are disappearing. It seems that everyday another star goes out, the Heartless grow stronger. There has been an increase in attacks upon our refuge home of Traverse Town. My friends and I don't know how much longer we can hold them off. We request assistance as soon as possible._

No signature was signed underneath the note. Goofy just had a revelation he just realized. "Stars going out." Everyone turned to him. "I just remembered somethin. As I was finishing my rounds a few days after Christmas happened, a star was blinking on and off as if it was about to go out.

Everyone's eyes widened at the news Goofy just delivered them. They couldn't believe it. Worlds. Disappearing, Sounds improbable sure, but could it really happen. "I don't think we should take any chances." Donald said.

"Alright. Don't worry your highness. We'll find the King and make sure he gets home safely." Minnie felt relieved to hear them say that. When it came to loyalty those two were the true definition of it. "Take this note, you may need it. And take Jiminy with you.

"Who?". A little tiny cricket appeared on Minnie's shoulder. Jiminy bowed respectfully introducing himself to his new pair of traveling companions. "Greetings, my name is Jiminy. Please to meet your acquaintance."

"Jiminy is from another world that mysteriously disappeared some time ago. He's a journalist, and I asked him to record everything while you're on your journey," the queen said.

"We'd be glad to have you," Goofy said and Donald nodded in approval. Jiminy jumped under Goofy's hat. "It's really cozy under here," the cricket said. They all laughed a little at Jiminy's comment.

"I wish the two of you a safe journey," they both saluted to Minnie's words as they headed to the Gummi hangar. Waiting there were the navigators Chip and Dale. As the two were prepping the Gummi ship Highwind for takeoff, Donald and Goofy listened to Jiminy's story, how his entire world vanished from existence.

"So you're the only one who made it here to the castle," Donald followed up Jiminy's story by asking him if what he was saying really happened.

"It was awful we were scattered. As far as I can tell, I am the only person to make it to this castle," that would confirm their suspicions that worlds are disappearing. If Jiminy's story, Pete's escape,and the King's disappearance was any indication on how dire the situation is becoming, it meant something big was coming. It also meant time was not on their side. "We have a lot of ground to cover once we get to Traverse town," Goofy said. As soon as they got aboard the Highwind, Donald approached the pilot seat, while Goofy was taking a position next to him. "Donald Duck to launch crew. Are we ready for liftoff?"

Dale and Chip made their way over to the intercom "Just give us a few more minutes, and you'll be all set. Goofy set a picture down on a shelf. A picture of the three of them. By three of them, the picture had Donald, Goofy, and Mickey. It was a picture of them during their days as musketeers. "(Sigh)Good times," the Duck said. Donald and Goofy smiled at each other, then Chip and Dale gave them clearance to lift off. Well lift off was a kind term for what they really meant. The Highwind dropped several meters beneath the hangar and when they reached cosmic space did they actually blast off. So the three of them were off on a mission. A mission to find the King.

(Kairi/Riku; in between Space and Destiny Islands)

Groaning as she was struggling to pick herself up and onto her feet, Kairi's mind was also going in a million different directions. She couldn't stop asking herself 'what was going'. Sora was the least of her worries. Now Kairi and Riku had to contend in an environment, one that essentially led to nowhere. She held her hands to her mouth and called out "Riku!," no response. "Riku!," then she got a response. He was appearing up behind her rubbing the back of his head. "Please not so loud. I have a splitting headache," well he was glad to see she was ok too.

The wind started to pick up again as they tried to make sense of where they were situated. Did the door in the Secret Place really bring them here? Was this where it led. "Is this it," they were on a very small islet with one pair of palm trees and a rock. And it was floating in the middle of nowhere. Then came whispers, the ominous synchronization of them put Kairi and Riku on edge. The whispers of the dark became louder as small wisp of darkness gathered into one large being. One that resembled Sora?

"Is… Is that," Riku was cut off as the dark creature tried to smash Riku. Luckily he was able to avoid it in time. Their blades automatically summoned themselves. Instead of questioning, they turned their attention to the threat in front of them. "Guess we fight," Kairi said. The large shadowy creature went in for another smash but the two of them managed to avoid, it. "Kai!," Riku yelled

"I'm fine," she replied. She picked herself up. "How do we take this thing down?"

"If it looks like Sora. Normally what I would do is just keep fighting till he can't fight anymore."

"That's not the case here, Riku!" Then shadows began to appear in front of them. "But in this case, we take whatever advantage you can get," Kairi was fighting the shadows, while Riku was dealing with large shadow. Kairi was holding her own for the most part. Despite the little training Riku gave her, it soon became second nature to her. She even stabbed her keyblade into a shadow that tried to blindsight her. But they just kept coming one after another. And it was starting to wear her down just a bit.

Riku was trying to get close enough for a chance at the shadow's head, but could never get to a close enough range to do so. The shadow then resorted to throwing dark orbs at him. He was able to avoid the first two, but took a direct hit from the third one, causing him to fall flat on his back.

"Riku!," Kairi slashed more shadows as she slowly progressed towards him. She knelt down next to him.

"I'm fine," Riku picked himself back up. "Where are they coming from?" Soon they were surrounded backs facing towards one another.

 _Is this the end_ Kairi thought to herself. _It can't be._

' _You're light,'_ that voice again. It's sounded familiar to Kairi. ' _Your light will force back the darkness. All you have to do is face it,'_ her keyblade began to glow a golden yellow. On instinct Kairi turned back towards the shadow with a showing of confidence that Riku, not even Sora have ever seen before, and pointed her blade towards the giant shadow.

"Kai, what are you doing," she didn't answer Riku. She closed her eyes, and breathed in deeply her golden blade tip, facing what looks like her friends. Sparking, blue and gray energy gathered at the tip, and it was released and pierced the dark being straight between the eyes. The shadows began to fade, the creature fell back off of the islet. "What was that?," Riku asked. Kairi snapped back into reality.

"I don't know what came over me. It felt as though it was talking to me," she said. Another dangerous wind then suddenly overtook them, and everything again was blacked out.

 _Ok., I figure I'd end the chapter here. Then I will either start a strictly Sora chapter or do the Traverse town for the next installment of this fanfic. Let me know because this next part can go either way. Let me know what you think of this chapter, and thank you for those who stuck around for the adventure. See you soon._


	5. Slumber

_**Hey people I'm back with another chapter. I thank you all for the support that you gave me. I went back to college at the end of the month so posting chapters is going to take me longer to get these posted. I actually went back to class in August so this has been a really long delay so**_

 _ **Enough of my babbling, enjoy the story.**_

 _(Sora)_

 _Stillness,darkness, silence was all Sora knew now. In his state he lies motionless, floating in a realm where nothing exist. But there was one thing that did exist in this realm, voices. Those were all he heard, and they were calling his name. With his eyes still closed, he spoke in a very low tone 'Whose voices are these. And why do they keep calling me.'_

" _ **These voices are not real. They only things, not people. Disregard them and fall back to sleep,"**_ _streams of darkness swarmed over Sora casting a spell that made him fall back asleep. A dark figure appeared before Sora's sleeping form. It stared at him with its demon yellows. The creature was black for the most part, and had angel wings made of streams of darkness. It looked more human than darkness. It closely resembled Sora_ _ **"Soon, very soon will all be pure. The world's, your friends. And me. Sleep well Sora."**_

 _(?; Riku, Kairi)_

Kairi and Riku were both on the ground, moaning from exhaustion grunting in pain. Riku felt something, he didn't know what it was, but it was a feeling he never felt like he should feel in the first place. Finally standing up on his two feet. He turned to Kairi was lying on the ground still. Her moaning had gotten shallow along with her breathing. Her breathing became more shallow and slower. Kneeling down next to her and turning her over. "Kai, do something so I know you can hear me," Nothing happened at first, so Riku had made the assumption she fainted. But she raised her hand, and had her eyes only slightly opened, before closing them again. _'She doesn't look well. I need to get her help now'._ He picked her up and carried her around, and he hoped that he would get some sense of where they were. But it didn't take him long to find out. They were in the on some sort of small floating land mass about yellow clouds. There was only one tall tower, in the center of it all. Riku looked upwards and it looked like it went as far as the eye can see. A set of railroad tracks were the only things left aside from the tower. 'What is this place? Another world?' Riku figured that there must something inside that might be able to help Kairi. He didn't have a choice, and started walking toward the tower, only to be confronted by a very seemingly fit but rotund cat standing in the crack of the entrance. The mysterious intruder's ears perked up, and turned around.

"Hey, you squirts don't look like you belong here!," he said.

Riku's eyebrow rose "And who are you suppose to be?"

"The names Pete. And I don't know what you and your girlfriend are doing here. But you're here to thwart my plans, you got another thing comin," Pete yelled, pounding his fist together.

Riku set Kairi down gently on the bush behind him, and turned back to Pete with a confused and angry look. "Look Pete," he said distastefully, it already became apparent that Riku was already was ready for a fight "I don't know or care why you're here, but I don't have time for you. Get out of my way!," he yelled.

"Oh so playing dumb is your game huh. Well I got a game as well," then Pete whistled. "Heartless squad attack!" shadows rose from the ground, and a couple of larger shadows, and two with larger antennas and human sized hands and bodies.

'These are the same things that attacked our island,' Riku thought. In an instant his keyblade was summoned again. Riku knew how to handle the small ones, but it was the larger ones that would cause him trouble more trouble. They were faster and more agile, than the smaller shadows. Riku stayed back, and let them come to him, to protect Kairi at the same time. The first set of shadows went in and instantly got cut down from a simple 360 degree slash. Sensing another shadow was coming up from behind him he turned and stabbed it in the chest, causing it to fade. He was soon caught off guard by the larger shadows jumping him at the same time. Causing Riku to jump back a little close to the edge. As both neoshadows charged at him Riku tried to slash one of them but both evaded his attacks, appearing in the air from behind and clawing him in the back causing him to tumble forward in pain. He quickly shook off the pain as one of the neo shadows rushed him again. But it was caught off guard as Riku with his quick reflexes turned around and slashed it. One down one to go.

The neoshadow instead of going for Riku he went for Kairi instead. Realizing what it was doing he ran over to her and blocked the attack, protecting his unconscious friend. Riku rushed at it and delivered a vertical slash from the head down. Riku was unable to catch a breath, as Pete came over and shoulder charged him down. "You are pretty tough for a small fry," Pete chuckled and came closer to Riku holding him by his hair and throwing him over to Kairi. "However you and your friend have to go bye-bye." He reached into his pocket and took out an explosive seeking bomb and threw it at them. It exploded, Pete having thought he won, but that illusion was shattered when he peered through the quickly fading smoke. Riku and Kairi survived, being surrounded by a blue- greenish force field. "WHAT!," Pere exclaimed.

'Huh," Riku stared at awe at the field surrounding Riku and Kairi. The the doors to the tower opened, exiting was a very elderly man with a cone- like magician hat, and long beard, in a blue robe. Pete quickly made his exit, through a dark portal, with that he was gone. The wizard man turned around to face Riku who tightened his grip on Kairi in a very protective way. Her breathing was still very weak from the fall she took

"No need to be alarmed. I am not here to cause you any harm.," he said.

"Who are you?," Riku asked, eyeing the man from top to bottom.

"I am the owner of this tower. My name is Yen Sid," he stated. Riku feeling a little more comfortable lowered his guard. Seeing as Yen Sid helped him, in his mind he couldn't be all that bad as Pete. "I'm curious, how did you get here. Did you take the train from Twilight Town?"

"Uh...no we have never been to/ or heard of Twilight Town. We sort of landed here," Riku explained. Yen Sid stroked his beard while Riku looked back to Kairi. He just remembered that she needs help now!

"You're friend looks like she needs aid. Come with me my young friend, we have much to discuss," Riku picked up Kairi and carried her inside following Yen Sid. The door closed behind them. The tower looked tall on the outside, but was way more taller on the inside. But the word Riku more likely would use the word, colossus. The tower looked like it went up into the sky for miles. Yen Sid pointed his wand at the stairs, and they were instantly teleported to Yen Sid's chambers. Near a set of three windows was a desk, a bookshelf that sat across from it. He opened the room next door, and told Riku to set Kairi down on it. He waved his hand over her, and a crackling sound ensuded in her chest.

"What are you doing," Riku asked nervously.

"I'm healing her," he said and a white light shined over her. He settled his hand down, and pulled the covers her unconscious form. "Now we wait," he said simply. All Riku did was stare at his friend. Seeing her unconscious like this reminded him of Sora, and how long it took for him to wake up. To come back to them. Since then Riku hated seeing his friends in circumstances like this. He felt a hand land and grip firmly on his shoulder "She'll be ok," Riku took Yen Sid's words to heart. If only it were that easy for him.

"Thanks," Riku said in a very sad and depressing manner. The wizard took lead as they exited the room to let Kari rest.

Yen Sid gestured for Riku to take a seat in front of him in the chair he summoned. Riku complied, and inhaled a deep breath to let loose all the tension built up inside of him. The last few hours or days have been painful and dreadful for the two of them. It was written all over Riku's face. "What's your name," Yen Sid asked stroking his beard.

"Riku," he replied simply.

"Well Riku you look distressed," he was that easy to read at that moment. "Earlier when I asked you how you got here, I was surprised you didn't take the train, but you said you weren't from Twilight Town."

"Y-yes. Kairi and I are from a place Destiny Islands."

"Your home was attacked wasn't it Riku,"

Riku's face instantly shot up. That was all the information Yen Sid needed, to make his conclusion.

"Your world was one of many that has fallen to darkness," Yen Sid said to him.

"Then you know about those things that attacked my home don't you?," Riku asked with Yen Sid nodding in approval.

"Indeed I do."

"Then do you know what happ-," Riku yelped in pain and fell right on his face into unconsciousness. Then he knew no more.

(Dream 10 years ago)

 _A cool sea breeze took to the sky over Destiny Islands. Sitting on the coastal sandy waters , a five year old, Sora Hikaru, breathed in and out with hugging his knees to his chest. All little Sora thought about was what was up in the sky. What it would feel like to fly free like a bird does. What it means to have that kind of freedom. Sora felt stranded on this island. He didn't feel like there was much for him here, while he and his friends always tried to make the best of what they had, for Sora it was never enough. He needed something else. He needed adventure away from this island. But he was young just a boy. What could he do about it._

 _He sighed and laid down in the sand and closed his eyes until he heard footsteps approaching from behind him. His blue orbs met a pair of violet ones. A girl in a pair of blue shorts and white and blue tank top with auburn hair. It was Kairi and Sora meeting for the first time._

" _Who are you?"_

" _My names Kairi," she replied with a smile on her face. "Who are you?"_

" _I'm Sora. So Kairi where are you from? You look like you're not from around here" he asked rubbing the back of his head. Sora could tell when someone was new. He had been on this island long enough to recognize new faces. A sad expression fell upon the girl's face, which caught Sora's eye. For a young boy he was quite observant. He figured since she didn't say anything he decided he needed to find a way to drop the subject. But Kairi already did that for him_

" _I don't really want to talk about it,:" she said._

" _It's ok. So who did you come here with?"_

" _It's honestly just me," she said._

" _All alone?," Sora figured something terrible happened to her parents, and Sora was able to realte to her as his father had died the day he was born._

 _Kairi was trying to remember what her life was like when she was younger. The only thing she can remember is how much pain she was in, how scared she was, and how alone she felt. Tears began to form in the corners of her eyes. She tried to hold them back to not show any form of weakness, until Sora put his hands on her shoulders.  
_

" _It's ok to cry. My mom says when you can't form words with your mouth, your eyes do all the talking for you. Just let it out, ok?," he gave her a small smile. She was trembling and sobbing, her tears rain down onto the sand beneath them. Sora pulled her in for a hug. She desperately needed comfort right now. After a few minutes of crying Kairi seemed to calm pulled her away from her and gave her a goofy smile. A very goofy smile that made her smile back._

" _Why don't I show you around the island. My friend Riku won't be here for a while," Kairi felt the joy come back to her as she quickly forgotten the pain she felt earlier. The smile returned to her face as if she was never sad to begin with. So Sora grabbed her hand and showed her around the island._

"S-Sora," Kairi was waking up.

 _ **I apologize for the very very late upload to the story. For those who stuck around for that very long period of time I thank you for your patience. I'm back in class now so this is going to take me longer to upload these chapters to you guys. Please leave a review to let me know what you think and feel free to send me a Private Messages it you want to have a discussion with me. Take it easy guys, and good day!**_


	6. The New Darkness

_**I'm back people with another chapter of "A Light in the Dark." For all of you who stuck around despite the long delay of the last chapter, I mean it from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for sticking around. I honestly have been busy and stressed with tests and projects. Not only was I relieved when I passed them with "A's" and "B's" it was all over, but seeing the reviews and the number of people who read this honestly was the icing on the cake that made my day. Like I said thank you. Now here is the next installment of the story. Disclaimer I do not own any of the content that is presented in this fanfic. Some of this I had to research on the Kingdom Hearts and Disney Wikis and Final Fantasy Wikis. Hope you guys enjoy!**_

 _Chapter 6: The New Darkness_

 _(?)_

Underneath the dark pleated waters under the moonlight a creature of darkness ascended from its depths. The water level rose and out of it bled darkness. Streams of pure unrelenting darkness. Millions of these streams flew through the skies and onto the land overhead. Screams erupted from people on the coast. And as the darkness crept closer it soon spread to the city and beyond. Emerging from the ocean was a figure, with spiky black hair, demon-golden yellow eyes, black marks that went from the top of the sides his forehead, down his cheeks and under his chin. The eyes were not only the sign of evil, but not pure lust for destruction or power. It seemed to crave something different, something more than what can be seen.

He landed on his two feet on beach that was now covered in darkness and walked toward the city. Within just minutes what was an entire city was nothing more than a cesspool of darkness. Not a soul to be seen for mile. No men, women, nor children, all was consumed by whatever the darkness touched. Lifeless as he seemed to be continued walking, until he was abruptly stopped by a feminine voice. "You!," he turned around to face the source A woman with brunette hair with a long ponytail, blue and green eyes. She wore shorts, knee-high boots, a shirt with a symbol in the center. "Stop," she then pointed two guns at her ready to shoot "Who are you?" she shouted.

An ominous vibe filled the air, making her shiver in fear when he spoke "Shadow," said with his new mix of voice and Sora's. Well it was Sora's but it wasn't as recognizable, but she didn't know that.

"Yuna!," two more female voices approached from behind her weapons readied. "Wha… what is that thing," _'More of her friends,'_ Shadow thought. "Is that a fiend?," she asked in a worried voice.

"I'm not a fiend or a thing," Shadow retorted darkly. He shot a stream of darkness at them and Rikku made an attempt to slash it with her dagger blades., but before she could it split in two. Not being able to react in time, she was slammed into the nearby wall.

"Rikku!," they both shouted as Yuna took several shots at him. However Shadow was able to avoid getting hit by every bullet. Yuna wasn't a terrible shot either. Paine then went in for a slash at Shadows torso, but was easily parried as Shadow summoned his keyblade. Indeed Shadow has a keyblade, with a red hilt, and a the blade was a black key. He put in little effort to force Paine back next to Yuna. Yuna loaded a quarter pounder bullet into her gun and fired it. It struck him in the chest but it didn't faze him it turned to dust. Both gasped in horror as Shadow continued to wait for both them to make their next move. He was actually enjoying this, them thinking they could stand up to him.

"Whats wrong. Are you already out of cards to play?," he chuckled darkly putting them both on edge. But at the same time they were infuriated by his arrogant attitude. Paine rushed forward sword above her head ready to strike him down. _'She just doesn't learn'_ Sora launched a blast of darkness into her chest and she fell down onto her chest. Paine was out cold. Yuna was the last one standing. A storm of anger washed over heart, first he destroys a entire city full of innocent people now Yuna's best friend and cousin Rikku.

She jumped backwards which intrigued the dark one. She didn't look like she was giving up that easily. With a determined look on her face she took a deep breath. Her gun floated above her head "Floral Fallal," light shined brightly obscuring some of the vision Shadow had. _'Whats this?'_ he thought. He now knew there was more to her than he originally believed. Something about this girl thought set him off. After the light faded he was staring at Yuna in a white dress, a gem in the center of her chest, white knee- high boots, and a large purple hibiscus with three other oval shaped gems above it. Even Yuna's hair turned white. She stared back Shadow with evident fury. "You're going to pay for this," she yelled.

Shadow snickered "Then come and get me," he was so calm and collected as if he wasn't even worried. Yuna wondered what his game could be, but she wasted no time unleashing powerful elemental attacks. The first one being thunder. She launched bolt after bolt at him, he dodged most of them effortlessly until he was caught off guard by Yuna casting a water spell, engulfing him in a massive sphere of water. She casted another lighting attack into the water sphere. Shadow's eyes opened wide as he quickly shielded himself with a Reflectga spell. Thunder danced around the force field Shadow surrounded himself with. He then deflected the attack right back at Yuna, adding the water into the mix. She casted Barrier to block the reflected attack causing it to fling into the nearby building. Luckily that no one was around to get hurt, because it would have made Yuna's situation more difficult. _'She's gotten stronger. This is getting more interesting'.'_

Shadow leapt forward with lightning speed to stab his keyblade into Yuna's back. Yuna noticed this and casted Thundaga to force him away. She launched whirls of Firaga at him relentlessly. Shadow used her blind rage to charge his lightning attack. He leapt up high into the air, and let loose his attack. Yuna set up another barrier to protect herself, but the attack was more powerful than anticipated and broke the barrier. Yuna's eyes went wide and she was struck in the chest with it. She slammed into a few building before landing near the ocean. Paralyzed by pain and the lightning spell, she was at the mercy of the dark one. On her side she peered her head up making contact with Shadows demonic eyes. "You're strong. More stronger than I gave you credit for," Shadow crept closer, he notice her tense up. "Don't worry. I have no intention of ending your life. Or the life of your friends," Shadow levitated her up, Yuna felt like she was suffocating from something. "I'm letting you live because you opened my eyes to something greater. To thank you let me share this with you," streams of darkness were coursing through her veins. To her heart, her mind and her soul. She then let out a deafening blood-curtling scream. "Ahhhhh!,"

(Kairi; Yen-Sid's Tower)

"SORA!," Kairi woke up with pain searing in her chest. She felt like she wanted to scream, but didn't when she saw Riku in the bed next to her. She looked around seeing that she was in some sort of bedroom, and she peered out the window next to her. _'The last thing I remembered was Sora, a large monster and'_ her thoughts were interrupted by Yen-Sid entering the room.

"I see you're awake," he stated.

"What happened," Kairi rubbed her eye trying to get some of the sleep out.

"You took a nasty fall, and some of your bones were cracked, but I put them back into place. Just don't try to move around so much."

"Thank you," she said.

"What's your name?," Yen-Sid asked.

"Kairi," the auburn said.

"I asked Riku this earlier, but he fell asleep before he could tell me. What happened to your home?"

Kairi hesitated at first but seeing as though how Yen-Sid saved their lives, she figured she owed him an explanation. "The day those things attacked our home, Riku and I were out looking for our friend Sora. That's when we first encountered them.

"I'll tell you what I told Riku. Your home wasn't the first victim to this kind of threat. Other worlds have succumb to same circumstances.

"So there are other worlds!,"

Yen-Sid nodded his head in confirming her and her friends suspicions of other worlds existing. Meaning that her world, her origin home was out there somewhere. "All the worlds including yours Kairi were connected. But darkness began to expand into other worlds, and with each world that is absorbed the Heartless grow in strength and numbers," he explained.

"Heartless?," she asked.

"The same ones that attacked your home. The ones you described were pureblood Heartless, the other are Emblem heartless. Like the Purebloods, Emblem heartless come in many different forms and sizes, both seek to prey on any unsuspecting victim and collect the hearts relentlessly. It's like a thirst, the more they consume the more powerful they become."

Kairi felt very uncomfortable at the information she was trying to process. She then thought about Sora. Was he becoming one of them. "Uh. Yen-Sid," he looked at her. "Has there ever been any kind of Heartless that doesn't necessarily collect the heart, but controls the mind and body of someone else" she asked.

Thinking long and hard on Kairi's question, and very suspicious of it he considered it to be a possibility. "Darkness comes in many twisted forms, however that does make it a possibility. But I'd say it's not as problematic."

Kairi begged to disagree with him, but she didn't tell him that though. She clenched her hands in her lap. The worry and anxiety coursing through her was t overwhelming, to the point where she couldn't hear anymore. She inhaled and exhaled in deep breaths.

"You were fortunate enough to defend yourselves. The weapons you and Riku wield can repair the damage that has been done. The Keyblade," he said.

"" _The Keyblade?,"_ instinctively she extended her arm out and Destiny Embrace appeared and she gripped the handle holding it in front of Yen-Sid.

"I haven't come across wielders in ages," Yen-Sid said.

"There are other people that can wield these," Kairi asked.

"Indeed. For you and Riku to wield them, is a miracle in times like this."

"A miracle?"

"Other worlds are under constant siege from the darkness. I have to say this if you if you hope to see your friends, your and family again, you have to push back the darkness."

"But how can I…"

"You won't have to do it alone," Riku startled Kairi.

"How long have you been standing there?" Yen-Sid asked him.

"Long enough. I heard everything. Like I said Kai, you won't be alone in this.," Riku said and Kairi nodded her head.

"Very well. But first you must prepare yourself for the trials ahead. The room over has three of my assistants on the other side. You will need new clothing before you set out on your journey. Riku and Kairi took a good look at themselves and their clothes were dirty, but grimey, not to mention how torn Riku's shirt was. They proceeded to the door and opened it, and closed it right behind them. Three fairies stood present in the room one and they turned their attention to Riku and Kairi.

"Uh," Riku began "are you three Yen-Sid's assistants?"

"Yes we are," the one in red said. "I'm Flora."

The one in dark green spoke "I'm Fauna."

Then last but not least the blue one "I'm Merryweather."

"I'm Kairi, and this is Riku."

"Pleased to meet you dearies. Oh my look at your clothes! What happened?

"We kind of hit a few rough edges on the way here," Riku and Kairi turned to each other and nodded hesitantly at each other.

"Well we can fix that," Fauna said. The three fairies turned to each other and pointed their wands at Kairi first. Within a flash Kairi was in all new attire. She was in pink knee-length boots., a black blouse, underneath a pink one, and pink leggings underneath a lavender colored. "Don't you look good dearie," Kairi blushed at her remark of her. No denying on how gorgeous she looked. Next up was Riku. He now wore blue cargo jeans, white shoes, a back shirt, underneath his sleeveless yellow striped white vest. "There all better," they said in unison. It made Riku and Kairi laugh a little.

"Thank you for all your help," Kairi said and bowed.

"Yes thank you," then the two friends turned to the door.

"Take care of yourselves," Merryweather said.

"Bye dearies," Fauna said next.

"See you again soon," Flora was the last to speak. The door closed and Yen-Sid was waiting for them with something in his hands.

"This will take you to a world called Traverse Town. Your journey will begin there. A friend's associate of mine can help you get started on where you need to go," Yen-Sid said.

"Thank you for everything," Riku said and turned to Kairi who gave him a nod that said 'I'm ready.'

"I wish you a safe journey my friends. Press the button when you are ready to depart," Yen-Sid went back to his chair and watched as Riku and Kairi disappeared.

(Traverse Town)

Riku and Kairi looked around them to what appears to be some sort of marketplace. There were a lot more people than they thought there would be. But if Yen-Sid said someone here could help them, they would seek him or her out.

Kairi reached into her pocket and pulled out the pendant that her father had given to her on Christmas. She missed him already. She just hope that he was ok, while she was gone. But her father understood why she wanted to do this. Riku felt the same way she did having to leave family behind to find a friend. But at the same time this wasn't how it was suppose to turn out.

"Thing's weren't suppose to turn out this way," Kairi said sadly.

"Yeah, I know. I know we'll find Sora," Riku said with confidence. "It won't be easy but we will, and get some answers."

Kairi smiled gave off the goofy smile Sora would usually make to cheer his friends up.

"Now let's get going shall we?"

(?)

"Yuna!," someone shouted. "YUNA, PAINE," Rikku shouted as she searched for her friends underneath all the debris. Yuna was nowhere to be found but, she found Paine lying face down in a pool of her blood. Rikku checked her pulse. It was there, barely but there. "Brother, iiye Iapne er dur,"(Paines needs help. Come pick us up) she said in Al Bhed. As soon as the airship came they didn't turn back to look at the city that doesn't exist anymore.

Out in the distance Shadow stood standing on the ocean water, with his new companion. It was a Yuna, a new twisted form of Yuna. She now had black hair, the same ponytail, her Floral Fallal had become corrupted with darkness. "Let's go," Shadow said. "Right Yuna," replied back.

Finally, done with this chapter. I'm letting you guys know is that I worked on this for 5 hours on the very date that it's being posted, straight non-stop trying to come up with new ideas on how to make it interesting. I had to do some research on some of the content in both Final Fantasy X-2, and Disney just to do this chapter. I wanted to do this to give back to all you guys for being patient and very understanding. I may never do something like this again, because I'm so wrecked and mentally battered from doing this. So I hope you guy enjoyed this chapter. As always feel free to send me a Private Message or leave a review about any aspect about the story what you like and didn't like. As always take it easy.


	7. All for One: Part 1

_**Man does it good to feel back in the saddle of writing! Welcome back people to another chapter of 'A Light in the Dark'. As always thank you guys for your overwhelming support. I going to cut this speech short because I'm running out of things say.**_

Chapter 7: All For One Part 1

(Kairi Riku; Traverse Town)

"So where do we start," Kairi asked as she scouted the area trying to find someone or something to point them in the right direction.

"Guess we just start asking around. Let's start with that shop over there," Riku pointed towards the building with a set large glowing stars. They walked up the steps as two people walked right past them. A girl in pink with brunette hair in a long braid, and another with black hair, green shirt and tan shorts. "Excuse us," the brunette said "Have you seen someone with a scar, blue coat, and black pants, hates being called by another name?"

"No sorry," Kairi said. The stranger bowed her head thanking her for their time and she ran around the corner disappearing from their sight. Kairi and Riku looked at each other for a moment with an 'ok' look on their faces. "Hello," they entered the shop, inside was a fireplace that was left unlit, green sofas with magazines. "Howdy," a voice said from behind them caused them to turn around. The old man in blue trouser pants, white shirt and blonde hair walked past the two, to around the counter. "I'm guessing this is your shop?," Kairi said.

"Yep. Names Cid. I sell accessories and all sorts of other knick-knacks. Do you kids need something," he asked.

"Uh yeah. We're looking for someone who can help us. A friend of ours said we could someone here," Riku said.

"I would help you kids, but the person you're looking for I have no idea where he is."

"Do you happen to have a clue where he is? Anything you tell us would be useful."

"You kids in need of something?" he asked.

"It's something along those lines. It's more about the Heartless," Riku said to him.

Cid raised an eyebrow "Aren't you two a little young to be getting involved with the Heartless?"

Kairi spoke "Can you name someone who wouldn't be involved with them if they had a choice?" she countered, she felt really bad that she mentioned it but didn't show any signs of regret. Riku understood why she said what she said . But it also made Cid a little skeptical of the two fifteen year-olds. " Easy easy. Look if Leon happens to come by I'll tell him to come find you," he finished.

"Thank you," Kairi said. The two exited the shop and started to look around the district they were in for anymore clues on what to do next. Back in Cid's shop though, something about Kairi and Riku set him off. _'Two kids getting involved with the Heartless' Cid thought._

They then proceeded into the shop next door "Hello," Kairi yelled, the place was dimly lit. It looked like no one was in. She took one step forward and the stairs instantly gave away and she fell to the floor below her. Coughing up and wiping the dust off of her, Riku helped her on her feet.

"You ok," he asked.

"Yeah," she replied wiping the last of the dust off of her clothes. They instantly ran out the back door as the entire inside of the building came down. They made it outside and the entrance to the inside of the building was blocked by piles of wood.

"So, thats one less place to check," Riku said.

"Oh yeah," the auburn replied more voices were coming around the corner and they needed to find an exit fast!. Kairi spotted small opening that they could crawl through, "Through here," she said, and he wasted no time scurrying through,. Not long after Kairi followed behind him and used the large crate to block off their route. They just kept going and didn't stop until they were out of range of the commotion.

"I think we're good," Riku said trying to catch his breath.

"Yeah ," Kairi said doing the same thing. "Let's not go back there for a while."

"Agreed, but now where are we? Some kind of alleyway?," they looked around in the empty alleyway. The place was dead silent, compared to where they were previously. _**"Be cautious,"**_ a voice said inside both their minds. " Did you hear something," riku turned to Kairi and nodded her head.

"I did. I've heard it multiple times before," she said "Or two of them actually."she said to Riku

"Two voices," he raised an eyebrow. Kairi didn't feel like telling Riku right now.

"I'll tell you later ok," she didn't feel like talking about it right now.

(Kairi's POV)

We proceeded down the alleyway and everything here had a eerie vibe to it. It put me on edge and gave me goosebumps. I stayed as calm as I can, it's what Sora would've done. Sora. Riku probably say the same thing,

"You sure ok," I was brought back to reality hearing Riku's voice.

"Just thinking about Sora,"I said sadly.

"Yeah me too. But we can't always have him on our minds right now," I was surprised to hear Riku say that.

"How can you say that? Sora's our friend," I asked.

"How good did that help us when we visited him when he was hospitalized?," My eyes softened

Riku turned to me and breathed deeply before speaking "Look Kai, don't get the wrong idea that I don't care about him. While it's our ultimate priority to find and or save him, we can't do that in our current situation. I'm still shaken up from the last time we saw him." The look in Sora's emotionless demon eyes horrified me to my very core. That voice from the night Sora's mother was killed. It still haunts me even if I only heard that _voice_ once. "I still refuse to believe that was Sora," I said.

"So do I," he said depressingly. We kept walking until we came across another door. One that looked like the lights were on and decent place to live in. So we entered the room and it looked gorgeous being isolated in one are. Nice carpets a piano, shelves full of books and surprisingly…

"A puppy!," I shrieked with joy as it came closer to me. I knelt down and pet its head. It then jumped into my and started licking my face. I laughed as it did so. Riku came next to me and petted its head too. It licked his hand. Then more puppies came about four more or so. I put the one in my arms down and it went off to play with its other friends.

"How many do you think live here. Or is it just the puppies." I shrugged my arms at Riku's question. "Well other than puppies there's nothing here."

"But puppies," I added a smile to my face.

"But puppies. Let's go," he said. We exited outside to a very open area. 'Ahhhh.' someone shouted. We ran out and we saw her, the girl from earlier. She was surrounded by Heartless. We knew what we have to do. We went in and started hacking and slashing into heartless. I dodged an ice attack and Riku vaulted over my back and slashed it with his keyblade.

The day after Sora was released from the hospital, the three of us have been sparring together, and learning new ways of fighting together. I still had a long way before I could be stronger than Riku or Sora. I kicked a shadow that tried to jump me and performed a horizontal spiral slash. After defeating the rest of them we walked over to the brunette haired girl. I extended my hand to her "Are you ok?," I asked her. "You. You two are keyblade wielders!?," she knows about the keyblade? "Uh yes. You know about the keyblade?"

"Yeah. Did the King send you two," she asked.

"King. What king?," Riku's eyebrow rose and so did mine as we looked back at each other.

"The king of Disney Castle?," she said.

"Sorry but we don't know who the 'King' or what the Disney Castle is?" I said.

"Oh," she looked disappointed.

"Is something wrong?," I asked and she took my hand and I helped her up onto her feet.

""No I'm fine," she dusted off her pink dress with her hands and introduced herself. "I'm Aerith," she gave us a warm smile. "Thanks for saving me."

"I'm Kairi."

"Riku." he said. She eyed up from top to bottom looking at us. The same way Cid did earlier. I wonder. "By any chance do you know a man named Cid?"

"Yeah, I'm guessing you've already met him. Aren't you two a little young to be..."

Riku rolled his eyes and I just groaned, she is sounding alot like Cid right now. No doubt those two were friends "Getting involved with the Heartless. Yeah Cid asked us the same thing," Aerith giggled a bit and Riku couldn't help but put on a chuckle at my behaviour. Honestly I'm not a little kid, neither is Riku as young as we are. "Aerith what are you doing here," I asked.

As if she just remembered "Oh right, I'm looking for my friend. A man named Leon," Did she just say Leon!? That was the name of the man Cid mentioned to us earlier. She was looking for him too? "My friends and I have been searching forever, but we can't seem to find him." she explained.

"Maybe we can work together. A friend of ours said he could help us," Riku said.

Aerith pulled a quizzical look at us "Are you sure it's not the King who sent you?" We both nodded confirming we were not sent by any king. Who is the King? "Why not, it's better than traveling alone. Let's head back to the first district first. I need to talk to Cid about a few things." We began to walk back to the first district, We opened the door and closed it back. I then realized it's no wonder no one was in that district. Heartless were everywhere. "Aerith, if there are Heartless there, why aren't there in this district?"

"Heartless do show up every now and again, but my friends and Leon are able to ward them off to the point where anybody could feel safe here. Are you two not from around here?"

"Our world is gone." Riku said flatly. But Riku did regret saying it in the tone he said it in. Getting use to being away from home was going to be more difficult than we thought. "Sorry," he said to Aerith sincerely.

"It's alright. This world is actually a refuge for those who lost their homes to the Heartless. Those that arrived here like me and my friends and many others, tried to make a safe haven out of this place. Don't worry in a way you'll feel right at home," she finished. I'd like to believe that and so would Riku. We walked back into Cid's shop to see Cid standing on a letter to to the upper level. He didn't seem to recognize us until Aerith spoke. "Cid," he immediately turned around and noticed us. "Hey Aerith. Oh it's you kids again," he climbed down the ladder. How come it's felt like we've been through this before? Oh wait we have.

"Hey Cid," I said in fake excitement and Riku just waved.

"I'm guessing you haven't found Leon yet?"

"No we haven't. Did Yuffie find anything," she asked. I'm guessing Yuffie is another one of Aerith's friends.

"She hasn't come back yet," Cid said walking back behind the counter and picking up a few more tools and shoving them back into the toolbox. "Did you check everywhere?"

"Everywhere but the third district," she said.

"This place has a third district?" Riku asked.

"Yeah. We locked both the doors leadin to it because most people would walk in and not come back. Figured it was the Heartless," he explained.

"Did you ever think to look for Leon there?," I asked.

"There's no possibility of him being there because we locked both entrances. Anywho I'm sure he'll be fine."

"We'll have to do more searching tomorrow," Aerith said mixed with a yawn. She limped over and laid herself on the seat next to her. Cid came over with a blanket and draped it over her. She must've been exhausted if she fell asleep instantly. Cid sighed.

"You ok," Riku asked.

"Yeah, but I've been better.," Cid stretched his arms "I'm going to get some shut eye. You kids should do the same," he left the shop and closed the door behind him leaving me Riku and Aerith alone. I put my hand to my mouth and let out a yawn and sat down in the chair behind me. "I think some sleep will do us good," and Riku replied "I'm not even tired." Then I replied "More rest for me then." I saw Riku roll his eyes and smile at me, then I drifted into sleep.

 _(Kairi's Dream)_

 _Three kids on the coast of the ocean were laughing and giggling. Enjoying their time together as they splashed ocean water at each other. "Is that all you got I thought you were better than that!," Sora said. Both riku and Kairi stared at each other with a very devious idea in mind. They ganged up on Sora splashing taking handfuls of water and chucking it at him. They stopped after thirty seconds of the torture they had put their spiky haired friend through. "Now look at which one of us is winning," Riku said then Kairi threw water at Riku._

" _I am.," Kairi said very satisfied with herself and a gleaming smile stretched across her face._

" _Traitor!," he yelled. Then they all bursted out laughing and laying on the warm sun under the sun soaking in the warmth of both it and each other's company. Sora was glad Kairi was here with him and Riku. Life with just the two of them got boring very quickly before she came along. All Riku and Sora did was spar and complain about wanting to get off their 'rock' as Riku would call it and travel to new worlds. Though it would be another ten years before it could happen they enjoyed the time they spent together. Sora let out his goofy smile to Kairi. She knew his smile was goofy, but it's what made Sora well… Sora. Riku and Sora raced around the island and Kairi served as the referee. She figured it was an ongoing competition between the two. Sora would finish sometimes, and sometimes it would be Riku. It was hard keeping count with how many times a day they raced. Kairi figured maybe she could run as fast as they could if she wanted to. But it was different with those two she thought. "Are you two done?," Kairi had her hands on her hips. Both the boys were perspiring in sweat and tried to catch their breaths. Sora held up one finger a way of saying 'one minute.' When they stopped breathing they raced over to the waterfall and dunked their heads in. Kairi pushed their entire bodies in when they focusing getting as much water as possible. They reemerged from the water and the three of them once again started laughing._

 _The sun was setting Sora and Riku had to go home, but it left Kairi sad. She had nowhere to go and no one to play with or someone to comfort her. She was scared and worried that she might not see or remember them again, like her home. She began to feel like this was a dream. Her head tilted down, Sora wanted to say goodbye but was met with a sad and depressed auburn little girl. He and Riku walked over to her. "Kairi?," Sora puts his hands on her shoulders which causes her to look up. "Kairi what's wrong," he asked her. But she didn't say anything. He shook her a little. "Kairi." She finally faced Sora and she couldn't help but let the tears fall onto the now cold sand. "I don't want to you guys to leave," she said quietly. Now Sora understood the cause of her sadness. He pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm afraid when I wake up you two disappear tomorrow." Riku joined in on the hug as well._

" _We'll still be here," Riku said._

" _You two will promise?," she asked trying to control her breathing. Sora held out his pinky to her. Riku did the same They pinky promised._

 _It was in the shack around midnight and Kairi was shivering from the cold. No blanket just her own body and herself in her shorts and tank top. She heard a noise approach the shack, which put her on edge. She crawled to the corner as it got close. The door opened and she closed her eyes waiting for something to happened. She then heard a familiar voice. "Kairi," was that?_

" _Sora," she said. It was Sora in his clothes. She was glad it was him and not some monster. "What are you doing here?"_

" _I promised i'd come back. You didn't think I'd leave you out here alone did you?"_

' _But I wasn't expecting you to come out here so early,' she thought. She noticed Sora coming by with a set of red plaid pajamas and threw them to Kairi._

" _Put those on, I'll be waiting outside," he said as he shut the door. She looked down in front of her and picked up the flannel pajamas. They were a bit big for her but anything else was better than what she currently was wearing. As soon as she put them on she hung her clothes on a the rack in the shack to let them dry and stepped outside to see Sora sitting on the sand under the stars and moonlight. She walked over to him and took a seat next to him._

" _How many stars do you think are up there?," he asked._

 _Kairi shrugged her shoulders "A lot I guess," she said. She hugged Sora, that was so sweet of him to come out in the middle of the night. At first she thought this was a dream. Now she was certain it wasn't. "Thank you."_

" _No problem," he said. He smiled to the fact she wasn't scared anymore. She let go of him and laid down in the sand next to her new friend. All they did was point and try to count the number of stars in the sky. They took turns guessing at how many stars were in the sky. They fell asleep in the sand trying to count them all._

 _ **That's all she wrote for part 1 of this part of the story. I decided to use use a third-person limited point of view using Kairi this chapter because I thought it could fit and see how I do. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Please leave a review or Private Message me if you have any comments or opinions. Thank you guys for so much support, Part 2 will be coming soon. Take it easy and see you guys later!**_


	8. All for One Part 2

_**Welcome back to another chapter my friends. Thank you for all of those who viewed and visited and stuck around this long. But the journeys only going to get longer so strap yourselves in for a wild ride folks.**_

Ch 8: All for One Part 2

Donald and Goofy were walking up to the 1st District closing the door behind them. Donald proceeded to walk ahead of Goofy. Since it was nighttime, people were still asleep. But that wasn't a problem for the two of them because they caught up on sleep on the ride to Traverse.

"Now where's this Leon?," Donald asked. They continued to just look on the outside not bothering to check to see if anyone was awake and went into the second district. It wasn't long after Kairi began to wake up from her dream. Still hearing the waves of the ocean and the cold winds that turned warm that night when Sora was by her side. He was there for her, and she would be there for him too. She got up from her seat and stretched and yawned out her sleep, then headed outside. Riku was standing in front of light post in the center of the district talking to Aerith. "You're finally up," Riku said.

"Morning," Kairi said to the both of them.

"Did you sleep well?" Aerith asked. Kairi looked a little different from yesterday. She looked a bit lighter in terms of her level of calmness. She seemed to be a bit more at peace. Riku probably didn't notice it at the time but it would come to him eventually.

"Yeah (yawn) I slept fine."

"By the way Cid said he wanted to see us at his workshop when you woke up."

"Huh? I thought that Cid owned that shop," she meant the accessory shop. 

"He owns two actually. He's also an engineer and has a shop dedicated to building ships to travel between other worlds," Aerith said. Kairi was amazed and sort of stupefied. Mainly because she, Sora, and Riku had planned on traveling using a single raft made out of wood, basic supplies such as water, fish, and mushrooms. But now she realized how unrealistic it was to believe that the three of them could even survive on those things alone. "He uses different kinds of gummi's to construct ships for specific purposes."

"What are gummi's," she asked.

"Gummis help with the construction and modifications of larger gummi ships. You can even come across them in other places that you wouldn't expect."

"Uh guys shouldn't we get going to Cid's. We shouldn't make him wait any longer," Riku said. After hearing that the three friends made their way over to Cid's gummi shop. Aerith led them and it wasn't far away actually. It was actually located right behind the Accessory shop and Cid was just finishing his inventory check.

"Good that y'all came. Yuffie told me Squall is somewhere in the third district." Wait the district that they told Riku and Kairi about. The man they are looking for is in there?

"But we sealed it off." Aerith said. "That's what I thought," Cid replied. "Anyway Yuffie went ahead to try and find a way in from the second district."

"Why can't we just open the lock?" Riku asked getting everyone's attention. "I mean it is just a simple lock right?"

"We lost the key to open the lock," Cid said. A lightbulb lit up in Aerith's brain.

"I know. Why don't one of you use your keyblades!," Aerith finished with Kairi and Riku smacking their heads to their foreheads for not thinking of that sooner. Cid had a 'WTF' look on his face. But it began to make sense to him, but he still couldn't believe that "You two kids are keyblade wielders!" he yelled.

"Does everyone know about what keyblades are?," Kairi asked. Aerith scratched the back of her head "Some people, but not everyone." she replied. "Yes Cid they are keyblade wielders," Aerith finished before Cid yelled out the same question again. "Then why didn't you or those two say anything," Riku and Kairi didn't respond to Cid's question because they barely understood what was going on. That and they had their own 'personal' reasons. Before a long distance of silence passed Aerith took note of the uncomfortable look on their faces and intervened. "They lost their home, and they were more worried about searching for one of their friends," little did Aerith know that they were indeed searching for someone was Sora. They hadn't told anyone about Sora. Kairi was worried that he had turned into a Heartless or was possessed by one. Her mind was racing in a million different directions and words from Riku bought her back to reality.

"We can talk about this later, but shouldn't we, I don't know? focus on the task at hand at finding Leon?" he was right and Cid backed down. But they knew this conversation they were having was going to be put on hold for now.

(Alleyway- Traverse Town)

"LEON WHY DID YOU MAKE PLAYING HIDE AND SEEK SO NEEDLESSLY DIFFICULT!," Yuffie yelled so loud she thought the entire town could hear her. She was growing frustrated trying to find a way to get into the third district. Nothing on street level would give her access, and she still thought the main gate was locked. The young ninja made her way back to the second districts second plaza. Little did she know when she yelled Donald and Goofy ran towards the source of the yelling. Which was Yuffie. A sudden change in the wind caused her to be on guard. She pulled out her shuriken star and listened. She then then heard footsteps approaching her. One. Two. Three. Four. And five she threw her shuriken and Donald and Goofy managed to move out of the way before the sharp ends were able to hit them. "Hey what's the big idea! You know it's impolite to sneak up on people like that," Yuffie said. While Donald was busy hyperventilating at nearly getting his head cut off.

"Sorry about that miss we didn't mean to startle ya. We are looking for someone named Leon," Goofy said to her. Yuffie's expression softened a bit seeing as they meant her no harm she put her shuriken away.

"I know Leon. My friends and I have an idea of where he might be. Why are looking for Leon?," Yuffie raised an eyebrow.

"We're trying to find our King. We are here by orders of the Queen." goofy answered.

"You two are from the castle? You must be Donald and Goofy I'm guessing." Wait she knew their names? "The King spoke highly of you two last time I saw him," Yuffie stopped for a second "wait why are you looking for him here. Didn't he return to the castle?"

"That's the thing he hasn't come back. It's been over a month," Donald said.

' _We met with him only for a day. Then he just vanishes?'_ Yuffie thought. "Let's tag along together as soon as we find Leon i'm sure he can answer some of your…," she was interrupted by a soldier heartless appearing out of nowhere "Look out," Donald fired a fire bolt at it and it faded. Soon they were surrounded being soldiers and shadows.

"What are these things!," Donald yelled as he casted more fire spells on more of them. Goofy threw his shield towards the concrete walls causing his shield to ricochet and cut through soldiers and shadows alike. Yuffie vanished and slashed at very heartless with them knowing where she was going to appear. Once the Heartless had been defeated the stayed on their guard just in case more of them showed up. "What the heck were those things that attacked us?"

"Heartless."

"Huh," they both went.

"You mean you two never saw a Heartless before? They attack everything and every world they come across," Yuffie asked. Yuffie told Donald and Goofy more about the Heartless. They cringed at the large influx of information, especially at the potential amount of damage they can inflict on other worlds as well.

"So you're telling us that they get stronger with each heart they collect?" Goofy gulped. Yuffie nodded.

"But don't worry too much! All you have to do is stay alarmed and be on your guard and you should be fine," she finished.

(Bel Rings)

It struck noon. But it was always dark in Traverse Town, but then an idea hit Yuffie on the head. "I got it!," she got both Donald and Goofy's attention. "The rooftops! We go through the Gizmo Shop and get to the Third District through the rooftops."

"Do you have a plan for getting up on top of the rooftops." Donald asked.

"The great ninja master Yuffie always has a plan," here she goes again. Yuffie was a great ninja, but even to she can get a little theatrical with her pride and passion. "Just follow me!," she began sprinting toward Gizmo's shop.

"Wait for us!," Donald yelled running after her.

"Gwarsh wait for me too!," Goofy followed not long after.

(Traverse Town: 1st District; Cid, Kairi, Riku, Aerith)

They were walking to the gate to the Third District, and watching people go pass by casually as if nothing was wrong, and if there was nothing to worry about. Besides the Heartless, that was everyone's number one concern. Kairi and Riku were glad they weren't city folks. Their home wasn't as loud, but it was quiet as waves of their green-blue sea rolled and roared on and off the sand. There were also far less people. They had a small town, but for them the city already felt to much. Kairi for one was getting vertigo from the fast pace of the city. She nearly stumbled over until Riku caught her hand. She brought herself back up. "You ok?" Riku asked in concern for her.

"Let me guess first trip to the city," Cid asked even though elements of what Traverse closely resembled that of a town, the population density of people, combined with how small the town really was made a small town feel like the big city.

"Yeah, just give me some time," Kairi sat down on a nearby bench. She pulled out a seashell from her pocket and she listened to the sound of the ocean it made.

"Where did you get the seashell from?" Riku asked.

"I brought it with me before we left home. I figured I would bring something that reminded me of home, just in case I got homesick." She even had other little trinkets she bought like the necklace her father gave her which she definitely would keep close to her person.

"What was your guy's home like?" Aerith asked.

"Out home was a small town on various islands. It didn't really have a name so many of us called it Destiny Islands. Full of sun and nice breezes that came from the sea. The smell was enough to get you captivated," Riku said.

"Sounds like a good place to take a vacation," Aerith said. Where Aerith lived there wasn't much of what Kairi described to her. It sounded like paradise, something that everyone use to have and known before the Heartless came and destroyed everything.

"You really should really come with us to see it one day," Kairi hopped up onto her feet and put the seashell into her pocket. "I'm ready," Kairi said. And she hoped she could keep up the pace this time. They arrived at the gate to the Third District, the lock to entering hung to the left of the doorway.

(Yuffie, Donald, Goofy)

Meanwhile Yuffie, Donald, and Goofy were up on the rooftops making their way toward the Third District. "Here," Yuffie opened a window and the three of them climbed through it and behold they made it. They landed on top of the staircase that led them to the lower levels of the district.

(Kairi, Sora, Aerith, Cid)

"Alright here we are," Cid said. "You're up kids."

Kairi stepped forward and summoned her keyblade "Destiny Embrace". Instinctively she felt a sensation take over her. She felt this same sensation before, when they were fighting the giant shadow. She pointed it towards the lock and the tip started to glow and low and behold, the beam shot into the hole and a click sound went off. "Did it worked?" she asked.

Stepping forward with Riku behind her they tried to push the gate door open. There door moved. It was opened! "It worked!," Kairi exclaimed. Smiles appeared on everyone's faces.

Now was the time to find Leon.

 **Well it took me awhile for me to get the the power to write this . By power I mean investing the time to write this. Don't worry I still have intentions of continuing this story. But for those who still continued to stay around thank you. As always feel free to Private Message me or leave a review. Thank you and have a good day.**


	9. All for One Part 3

_**This took me a while to collect my thoughts on how to write this chapter. I was outlining what I wanted to do with this chapter and for the future for this story, of course I'm still going to have to plan those out too. I also understand that many people have been waiting for another chapter. So here it is. Enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think.**_

(Traverse Town; Third District: Kairi, Riku, Cid, Aerith)

They were finally inside the Third District, but unknown to them so were some other guest. Yuffie, Donald, and Goofy were trying to make their way from the rooftops to the ground level. Yuffie spotted her friends walking down the street into the quad area. It was very well lit for an abandoned sector. "Hey guys!," Yuffie shouted at them. Kairi and the others looked around to find the source of the noise."Up here!," she shouted again. The four of them looked up and spotted her, Donald, and Goofy on top of the roof.

"Yuffie!?," Aerith and Cid shouted in unison. Kairi and Riku remembered her from yesterday. She was with Aerith searching for Leon the day they arrived at Traverse. ' _So this is Yuffie'_.

Donald heard something warp in behind them. He turned around and nothing was there. So he turned back to the others. But a Red Nocturne, a fire elemental heartless, was floating behind him appeared. Donald turned around and it floated above him to avoid line of sight. The second he turned back around it floated back down behind him. It shifted to the left a bit. Donald looked on his left and it went right. He then turned left and it went right. The the red heartless appeared dead center behind him. Then Donald turned around competely and he was staring at a miniature floating heartless. It took a few seconds before well this happened.

…."Bwahhh!," Donald stumbled backwards knocking himself and the others off the roof. The others ran towards their supposed landing sight only for them to fall on top of them. The seven of them were all groaning in pain while trying to get up.

"You guys ok?," Yuffie asked.

Cid had to crack the bones in his lower back, Riku and Kairi felt like the wind was knocked out of them for a quick second, Aerith surprisingly was not in the pile, and Donald and Goofy. Donald was surprisingly on the bottom despite being the last one to hit the ground.

"Hey I remember you two," Yuffie said to Riku and Kairi.

"Hi," Kairi said. Introductions however were cut short when an explosion was heard around the corner. Shaking off the pain they ran around the corner to see a man who had brown hair, who wielded a gunblade with an lion near the hilt fighting a giant armored heartless. The Armored heartless mustered up energy for an attack. But Leon was distracted by noticing the others.

"What the?," Leon's didn't have time to think as the heartless fired its attack. Leon tried to block it but it was pointless and Leon was hit and hit his back against the wall. He fell forward and he was out.

"Leon!," Aerith yelled.

"You guys get Leon. We got the Heartless," Kairi summoned her keyblade out, and Riku did the same.

"Be care-," Yuffie zipped passed them and the heartless and blocked a slash that it was about to deal to Leon. Donald cast fire to get it's attention. It charged at them. It may have been slow but it sure did make the ground shake beneath them. Riku blocked one of it's hands while Kairi went in for a quick slash but was blocked by the other. One of it's feet came around to blindside but was knocked away thanks to Goofy's shield. Donald casted a fire spells to knock away both the hands.

"How are we going to beat this thing?," Riku said. Goofy had a plan and it involves the pieces of armor.

"I got it instead of going for the chest, why don't we hit each part of it one at a time." Googy said.

"Good idea. Let's start with it's hands," Riku said.

(?, Main Castle Hall)

In a main meeting hall a lone figure was standing over a cauldron overlooking the battle between Kairi and her friends against the heartless. "What fools," she said. This is Maleficent, she wielded the power of darkness and commands an army of heartless of her own. Over the years she has made a name for herself. She is responsible for the destruction and disappearance of several worlds and seeks to cover all the worlds and space in darkness.

Pete entered the hall and walked up to Maleficent. "Failed me again I see," Pete shivered at her cold voice. " I hope you have a very good explanation for your failure this time." Pete calmed down 'sort of'. Normally Pete would goof up when trying to complete the simplest of task Maleficent would assign to him. When Pete was captain of the Disney Castle Musketeers always would carry out the small task because the people he sent to the small jobs failed miserably. But that was then and this is now and Maleficent was not as forgiving for those who failed her. Oddly she still had use of him no matter how many times he failed. And he failed alot.

"Actually Lord Maleficent, I was about to finish the job you sent me on, but I ran into a 'small' complication."

"What kind of 'small' complication. It better not be your old King"

"No. It's actually something else," Pete said again.

"What is it Pete!," she yelled. "Whatever show me what it is after I finish watching the demise of these fools." Pete grew closer to the cauldron. His eyes went wide because he recognized who was in it.

"I know those bozos!," Pete said.

"Which ones," Maleficent asked uninterestingly.

"All of them. The duck, the dog, and those two brats from Yen Sid's," Pete finished and Maleficent seemed to smile after taking in this information. Now she seemed 'really' interested when she heard Yen Sid's name come up.

"Yen Sid's you say. What else can you tell me about the boy and the girl Pete." She listened intentivly to him as he went on telling her what he knew about them.

(Traverse Town)

Their plan to defeat the armored heartless was sort of working. Aerith and the others were busy helping Leon with his injuries. Kairi, Donald, Riku, and Goofy had their own hands full dealing with the heartless. Kairi was getting worn out, but her spirit wouldn't give in. Her determination shows in this battle, that she would not quit. She learned that from watching Riku and Sora go at it nonstop for most of her life.

The Armor had lost all of it's other parts, and the four of them thought they were finished. Wrong. "Uhh what is it," Donald asked then they realized it was spinning faster at a speed that was making Donald dizzy. It was moving in random directions trying to hit anything in its path. Kairi tried to move out of the way by dodge rolling but she didn't in time for it to hit her and she recoiled landing face down into the ground.

"Kairi!," Riku yelled over to her. She couldn't hear them. The Armor then charged up another attack pretty fast and fired the energy ball at him, but Donald cast a protection spell. "You ok?," Donald asked.

"I'm fine," he replied to the duck magician. They sensed it was spinning again and this time faster. It spun and started flailing in random directions. Doesn't this thing do anything else!

Before it could hit Riku. It suddenly stopped spinning. It wasn't moving period. It was then the suit of armor just plopped to the ground. Riku could see a somewhat recovered Leon standing behind the now fallen suit of armor as it dissipated along with it's heart. Leon was breathing normally despite just being knocked unconscious. "You ok?," the gunblader asked.

"Yeah thanks," Riku then turned his attention back to Kairi. Who was still faced down on the ground.

"Let's get her back to the First District and treat her there," Leon said. Riku carried Kairi and followed the others back to the Accessory Shop.

(Spira,?)

The entire city was quiet. No voices, no life, nothing but buildings now hollow with a now hollow city. Shadow, now accompanied by Yuna, walked across the many high bridges looking at the entire scene. Then they with lightning speed landed on another structure. An entire city full of light was nothing but large dark shadow. Nothing was now stood at the edge of what appears to be some sort of stadium, separated from the rest of the city "This is Zanarkand. Beautiful isn't it," Shadow turned to her. The new Yuna whose eyes were now yellow, were empty, so empty that you couldn't find any form of emotion in them if you looked for years.

"Zanarkand." he looked back out to the city. He felt something inside him that made knots in his chest. As heartless as he may look, he still felt unfamiliar pain. It wasn't Sora's pain he was feeling. It was this new pain. As if he was missing something. "This is the perfect start to something greater.

Yuna turned to him not saying a single word. She didn't bother questioning all she did was watch as shadow unleashed his power. He charged darkness into his hands and threw it in the sky above the city. It floated high above the world's atmosphere and released a wave powerful that waves were roaring and rising. Clouds were either dispersed or no longer existed. A massive amethyst oversoul now floated above for the entire world to see. He turned to Yuna who looked into her her eyes and turned back. "Spira will be the staging point for a new beginning. And it all begins here with your home," Yuna showed no emotion but she was a little surprised that he knew the name of the world she was born on. Then rising from the depths of Shadow's essence, bipedal shadow's that resembled pure-blooded heartless, and normal human beings began to emerge. This was because of the oversoul that Shadow had created. From all across the city they sprang up. Yellow eyes, and bodies coated in darkness. "Evolution has begun. The Visrates are born." A yellow glow surrounding Shadow's body as angel-like wings formed on his back. They were black, and one of his eyes went from yellow to red, making him more distinct from the other newly created Visrates.

"Now the old world will be reborn," he said.

 _ **Yeah. If you guy's think that Maleficent was evil. Think again. This is something that I dreamed of doing for quite some time. I outlined this entire chapter and I hope you guys enjoyed it. Finals are coming up so I'm going to prepare for those. Just so you guys know:**_

 _ **Visrates (faction): A combination of pure-blooded heartless and humans created by Shadow (the Val-Visrate).**_

 _ **This is not your typical hack n slash story with just heartless alone. I wanted this to be more interesting so I created these pieces of original content.**_

 _ **Oh and if you can tell me what heartless species Shadow is you get a cookie. (Hint: It's one of Sephiroth's battle lines). Now you guys also know what world I selected to be the base of operations for the Visrate faction. THat and Yuna is not the same Yuna you know anymore. I hope you guys enjoy that to.**_

 _ **If you guys have any questions regarding the new content added to the story please let me know in the review or Private message me any time. If you want to talk with me Private Message me anytime. Take it easy and see you soon :D**_


	10. His Name is Sora

Kh Chapter 10: His Name is Sora

(Traverse Town, Accessory Shop)

Kairi groaned as she struggled to get up. She felt like she got hit by a truck. Her vision was a little distorted. Others were talking completely oblivious to the fact that she was awake.

"TWO DAY!. TWO WHOLE DAYS LEON!," Yuffie was yelling.

"Sorry," he said flatly. He said casually leaning against the wall unfazed by Yuffie's anger. Ok granted the others were angry too.

"IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY!," the ninja yelled again.

"Yes," he replied.

Kairi was growing irritated by all the noise and she just wanted to go back to sleep. She put the cushion her head was laying on and covered her ears with it. _'Could Yuffie be any more louder than this,'_ she thought. "LEON!," yes. Yes she can. And Kairi was on the verge of throwing the pillow at her. Maybe that would get Yuffie to pay attention to the fact that maybe she was…. trying to rest! But she kept screaming at Leon. Kairi had enough and used whatever strength she had and threw the pillow at her hitting her in the head. People not only were relieved that she did that to Yuffie, but after five minutes of her constant yelling it was finally quiet.

Sitting up which was against her judgement she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and used her other hand to control numb throbbing in her head. "Don't move around so much. You were hit pretty hard," Goofy said. She was fine for a brief couple of seconds then fell back on her side about to fall back asleep. Kairi was one of those people where if she didn't get enough sleep would be a very grumpy person. Sora and Riku never and I mean never woke her up when they were out of school on the weekends. Kairi fell back asleep not to long after. A small smile reached Riku's mouth out of amusement. Not wanting to run the risk of waking her up again "Is there any place quieter we can talk and not be on the receiving end of her wrath?," Riku asked folding his arms.

"Sure. Let's talk outside. I need some air," Leon said. He also wanted to try and get away from Yuffie before she blew her cap again. Aerith stayed behind to watch Kairi while she slept while everyone else, including Yuffie, poor Leon, went outside. The door shut Aerith turned back to see a sleeping Kairi. She was hit pretty hard, but luckily it didn't cause her to take too much damage. She tossed and turned in her sleep she may have been having a dream again. She mumbled out a name in her sleep. "Sora," she said just loud enough for Aerith to hear. "Sora," she said again, Aerith caught the name again.

' _What is she dreaming about. Who is Sora,"_ Aerith asked herself.

(Riku)

The entire group was now outside briefing Leon on each of their situations. Riku told Leon how he and Kairi wielded keyblades and arrived at Traverse Town. So much has happened in the last couple of days since Kairi and Riku left their home. He decided it was to start from there, the day the storm happened. "Two days ago a massive storm came to our home. It was the largest storm we had ever seen. It was an unnatural one at best. Kairi and I were out searching for our friend when the storm hit. We trekked out to the island the three of us played on. We searched the island high and low looking for for our friend but...," Riku didn't want to say but the others figured it out.

"The Heartless got him," Leon finished for him.

"Yes," Riku sighed, what other explanation could there be. Yeah he saw with his own eyes Sora had become something else, but he was still unconvinced that Sora was gone emotionally and spiritually forever. But after coming back on Christmas it was a sign that something in Sora had changed. But of course things changed when someone you know dies, but Sora too almost looked like he wasn't going to survive. But he did. He couldn't nail down specifically what had changed in him to make him who or what he was now. Riku hoped for the best and continued to tell his story to Leon.

"Anyway after we lost our friend and nearly got sucked into darkness itself. Kairi and I heard these voices, and before we knew it this happened," Riku summoned his keyblade out to them. Donald and Goofy watched with awe they had never seen a keyblade up close before.

"May I," Leon reached out with his hand asking Riku to give him the blade for him to hold. Riku gave it to him, but it instantly went back into Riku's hand. "Well I'll be. Still I don't understand why two keyblades chose kids like you," he finished.

"I'm not a kid," Riku said under his breath. "After going through what seemed like some sort of door, we then found ourselves in front of a very tall tower then confronted by a fat cat man named Pete…"

"Bhaaa!," Donald screamed.

"What did I say?," Riku turned to the screaming Duck.

"Well you see that 'fat cat' man named Pete escaped from the dimension the king imprisoned him in a few months ago. We've been chasing him ever since," Goofy elaborated for Riku and the others.

"He tried to overthrow the Queen and take over the castle!," Donald yelled.

"Ok you don't have to yell. I thought we got past the point of yelling," so Riku claimed. "While we're on the subject, Pete even tried to kill me and Kairi with Heartless," this caused everyone in the group to be wide eyed at the news Riku just delivered to them.

"Pete used Heartless to attack you?"

"Yep," Riku said thinking back to the time he was at Yen Sid's tower fighting Heartless to protect Kairi. That day he thought he was finished when Pete blindsided him after destroying the neo shadows, but Yen Sid was there just in time to save them. Those neo shadows game him shivers just looking at them. They even seemed to channel some kind of emotion through him for some unknown reason. What he felt that night was foreign to him.

"This is very bad. First the king goes missing now this?"

"Your king didn't return to the castle?" Leon asked his voice was raised a bit higher.

"He hasn't returned for over two months," Goofy said.

All this information they were receiving from each other was complete overload for all of them.

"What are we gonna do?," Goofy asked. Good question what were they going to do? How were they going to do it?

"I think we should call it a day. We'll think on this tomorrow. I can't think straight."

"Y'all more welcome to stay at the shop and sleep on the couch."

"Or we could all stay in the hotels at the second district," Aerith suggested.

"And risk waking up miss grumpy," Riku said. "I'll take my chances sleeping in the chair. But thank's for the offer." He turned and headed back into the shop.

"Suit yourself!," Yuffie said running inside the store and pulling Aerith out of the store and dragging her back to the hotel.

Before Yuffie could yell again Aerith bought her index finger to her own mouth signaling her to keep it down because Kairi was still sleeping. Riku walked up to Aerith and said he would watch her for the rest of the night. Aerith herself was pretty tired of watching Kairi sleep. It only made herself more tired. Yuffie took Aerith's hand and they walked back to the hotel to retire for tonight.

Cid tossed Riku a blanket then waved goodnight to Riku and shut the light off. Riku got in and slept on the long chair across from Kairi. Riku had so much on his mind right now the stress was actually catching up with him. Shoving all negative thoughts aside he dozed of to sleep.

Kairi woke up in the middle of the night feeling better after a good rest. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and slowly sat up and stretched her arms out. She moved quietly so as to not wake Riku up and walked outside and sat at the steps in front of the store. She sat on top of the steps feeling very sad. She missed the things she values the most. The man who she considered her father, Selphie, Tidus, Wakka, the island and its blue green ocean, the scent of the sea and it's tides that smell so beautifully. The place she called her home, she missed it all especially the one person who made her feel like she could call it home. _"Sora what happened to you?,"_ she thought. Deep in her heart she could for some reason still feel him for some reason. But at the same time she couldn't. It was like a light flickering on and off.

Hey," Kairi turned around and saw Goofy behind her.

"Oh hi," she sounded startled. "What are you doing up this late,"

"The same reason I can tell you're up. Thinking," Goofy finished. Kairi knew he was right. "No one with eyes open this late would be up for no reason." 

"When you put it that way, you could say I'm thinking about things. Oh and you are?"

"My names Goofy," he then let out a laugh he was notorious for. This made Kairi laugh at him a little. Laughing at him may have sounded rude, but no one could blame her on the grounds on how funny Goofy's laugh was. Her smile was forced a little and it was evident on her face. She felt something inside her go off. It reminded her of Sora's smile from when he came back from the hospital on Christmas day last year. When she looked at him after they shared an embrace of being reunited he looked very different. Not physically but more emotionally and his atmosphere was different.

"What wrong?" Goofy asked her.

"Just got alot on my mind."

"Riku told us what happened to your home and your friend." Kairi flinched upon hearing Goofy say that. It struck her to her core being reminded of what happened to her home. Assuming it was still in one piece. All she could do was hope that her father and friends were all right. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to,"

"It's not your fault. You don't have to apologize" Kairi sighed.

"Don't worry you'll find your home again. You just gotta believe," Goofy said putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Believe huh. I can try," she said sadly. "You sound like you're looking for someone too," Kairi asked him.

"Donald and I are out searching for our King, who also is a friend of ours."

Kairi chuckled at that goal. 'Searching for a friend' is what her and Riku's ultimate purpose. "I know that feeling. I'm guessing Riku told you about our 'friend'." Goofy nodded and Kairi took a deep breath and came right out and said his name. "His name is Sora," it sounded like a sensitive subject and Goofy just remained quiet and let it pass.

"Sounds like quite the friend if it's hard for you two to talk about him," damn Goofy and his insightfulness. He was right, it was hard to talk about Sora.

"Yeah he is," Kairi said as a tear trickled down her face.

"Want to talk about him just to get it off your chest," Kairi didn't know if she could.

"Not at the moment," Kairi said and Goofy accepted that.

"Well I'm going back to bed Donald and I got a long road ahead of us tomorrow," as Goofy took his leave he stopped to think for a second. He thought to himself ' _I know how she feels to have lost someone and had hopes of finding them. A lot of people lose who they care about. I wonder,"_ He turned back to Kairi "Say Kairi," she turned to him from her seat "If you want. You and your friend Riku can come with me and Donald. We have a gummi ship and plenty of room. We could help each other find our friends. Besides after what happened yesterday with that Heartless I'd say we make a pretty good team," Goofy proposed.

"You let us travel with you?" she asked astonished. Goofy nodded a yes.

"I'll talk to Donald if you want and you could talk to Riku."

"I can do that. There's no way Riku could turn this down. I know I won't." Kairi was starting to perk up again.

"Ok see you tomorrow," goofy said waving goodbye.

"Good night," Kairi said heading back inside.

 _ **Ok there's another chapter. I'm sorry that I didn't upload anything in over a month. I really didn't have the motivation to write anything, until now. So please bear with me I'm not someone who has a definitive schedule on when I should post new chapters. But I have no intentions on stopping uploads for this story, just so you guys know. I also want to thank all those who stuck with me and gave me support and ideas. As always please leaves review to let me know what you think. If you want to get in touch with me feel free to Private Message me anytime and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Take it easy.**_

 _ **Chapter Question: What did you think of connection I made between Sora and Kairi and how it translated in the conversation between her and Goofy. Just some food for thought to think about if you're interested.**_


	11. OC Character Update

_**Whats up my friends and viewer. I'm letting you know that while I work on chapter 11 I'm going to create polls for you guys to vote in. This is going to be your guys' way of creating the OC character that I want to add. I would've done it myself but I thought 'for all their support let the followers and viewers alike decide what traits the characters should have. Physical traits, emotional traits whatever you guys want it all going to be based on what has the most votes. If anything under one category is tied I'll just blend it together. You all get one vote in each poll.**_

" _ **So if you know anyone who would like to take part in these polls let them know. The polls are open to everyone. I do apologize if the options are limited those are all the choices I can think of.**_

 _ **Another thing that I encourage you guy's to do is please leave reviews. Whether it's a question or criticism I'll take it all. I want to get better at my writing and if you want to ask me a question about any aspect of the story like 'why I created the Visrates or the Heartless Angel an actual antagonist in the story' that's fine and I'll find the time to respond to whatever you guys ask. I'm also open to ideas for future stories so please I encourage you to leave reviews. That's all I have for you guys.**_

 _ **The polls will be open for 1 week from: January 28th, 2017- February 4th, 2017. Right now at 11 a.m.**_

 _ **I didn't know that i can only have one poll open at a time so I'm going to be rotating the polls everyday to another one. Sorry this is my first time doing this.**_


	12. Close to My Heart

_**Ok this chapter will be different from the previous ones. This one centers on Sora/Shadows origins. I have been thinking on what should come next and I was like 'This should come next before I move on to anymore parts of the story' considering the fact I don't talk about Sora or Shadow enough.**_

Ch 11: Close to My Heart

(Spira, Zanarkand: Shadow, Yuna)

Shadow and Yuna flew over the skies of Zanarkand, and as they flew Yuna shared each other's history. Yuna despite her emotionless expression seemed more intrigued about Shadow as he was about her.

"Is something wrong," Shadow asked her and turned to her causing the two to stop and float in the air.

"Who are you. You never really told me who you are really. If I'm going to help you, I need to know what I'm getting into. You didn't change me into a Visrate just because. You need something from me." Yuna concluded. Shadowed chuckled at her insight. He knew it was true and he would have to tell her about who he really is. But Yuna misunderstood one thing. Shadow didn't want anything from her.

"Very well. I'll tell you who I am. Before I do though i want to make this clear to you. I don't have any intention of taking anything from you, nor make you a puppet. The truth is I need you," he said. Yuna thought she misheard that, but seeing the truth in his red eyes she had to believe, despite how unreal it sounds.

"What do you mean you 'need me'. With all the power you possess why do you need me?"

"I'm looking for knowledge. Knowledge that will lead me to something that transcends both light and dark." Shadow took a deep breath. "My name is Shadow also known as Sora."

"Sora. What kind of name is Sora?"

"The name my 'mother' bestowed upon me as a child ten years ago. As for Sora, he is the other host of this body I took control of. I am basically part of him as he is of me. We are a reincarnation of a past life." This struck Yuna as both logically and mentally disturbed to think that Shadow not only has another person within him, but also has a past life. He is much older than he seems to be. "What's wrong?"

"You're not from this world are you?" Yuna asked.

"No. I was born on a world called Destiny Islands." Then putting his index finger on her forehead he took her back ten years ago. Ten years into his past.

(1995, Destiny Islands)

 _A woman with brunette hair and brown eyes walked down the Destiny marketplace. With her hands full of brown bags full of groceries. The wind blew smoothly as the tides go in and out the island. A smile adorned her beautiful face as she stood there in awe watching the blue green ocean roar. It was like a melody to her ears. Her name was Rei Hikaru, a woman in her mid twenties of was just walking home after finishing up her grocery shopping. Suddenly she was stopped by a friend of hers._

" _Hey Rei," she turned around and saw her friend. A man in his early thirties dark hair, blue eyes wearing a white short sleeve button up t-shirt, brown pants and black sandals._

" _Hey Braska," she gave him a warm smile and walked over to him. "Are you settling in ok?"_

" _Yeah. I was fortunate enough that Jecht let me stay with him and his son." he then had a grimaced expression on his face. Jecht was difficult to get along with. Rei understood that pained look on his face from anywhere._

" _I know Jecht can be full of himself at times, but you'll start to warm up to him," she said as they began walking out of the the marketplace._

" _I'll remember that the next time he throws a blitzball in my face," Braska said, again Rei just smiled._

 _The two friends reached Rei's home where she began to put away her groceries and make some tea. Braska helped her put her groceries away despite her saying he didn't need to help._

" _This place reminds me of Besaid." he said._

" _That's the place where you were going to raise Yuna at right?" Rei said not being careful with her word choice she turned to see a depressed Braska. Braska's home was destroyed over a year ago. He didn't know how he ended up on Destiny Islands but he knew neither Yuna or his wife were with him when he woke up, he assumed the worse that they died. He felt crushed and broken. He wandered the islands for a bit and that's when he met Rei. She took him in for a little bit so he could get himself together. He decided to try and find another place to stay. He figured she had done enough for him and he needed to step out on his own again. That's when she referred him to Jecht. His wife was sweet, and his son saw him as a second father. For good reasons._

" _Still can't believe they're gone," he said._

" _You'll cope in time the pain will numb. If it helps you sleep hear are some of my mother's words she would say to me when I was a child. 'I'll always have you, and you always have me'._

" _Do you miss her," he asked._

" _Everyday. But I'm still alive. I have my own life to think about," she sighed sitting down taking a sip of her tea. They spoke for another hour before Braska said he had to leave. Rei turned on the T.V and watched the struggle match between Destiny Island and Twilight Town. Struggle was the main sport and pastime sport. She never really had much of an interest when it came to sports. Two hours later she turned off the T.V. and decided to go for a walk on the beach. It was eight o'clock and the sun began to set. She started to turn back and head on home. She wanted to catch one more glimpse at the ocean before she decided to turn in. The ocean was more beautiful at nighttime with the moonlight coating it. She caught something else while glimpsing at the ocean too. She saw something washed up further down the shoreline. It looked like a body. A body! She ran right over to the body faced down in the wet sand. It was a boy who looked like he was five years old. Had spiky brunette colored hair. Wearing no shirt, but red shorts and no shoes. She put her ear to his chest and put a finger on his neck to feel for a pulse. He was breathing ok. His pulse was there, slightly but there. His body was warm and his face was red. She wasted no time taking him home with her._

 _Rei hastefully opened the doors, and set him down on the couch. She ran upstairs to grab a towel, a rag, water and something that would fit him. All she had was loose fitting sweatpants and a white t-shirt. She stripped his shorts off, dried him off and put him in the sweatpants and t-shirt. She grabbed the rag, wet it and put on his forehead. He was shivering slightly but then settled down. She repeated the process of putting the rag on his forehead for a while longer. Putting her hand on his forehead, she felt that his fever went down, she was relieved she found him when she did. She was going to need help. 'I'll call Braska. He's better at this than I am.' She reached for her house phone and put in Jecht's house phone number._

" _Hello," said a deep voice_

" _Hey Jecht," Rei said._

" _REI, it's been a while. How you doing?"_

" _I'm doing fine. Is Braska there?_

" _Hold on. BRASKA!," Jecht yelled. Rei covered her ears. She wish he would use his inside voice._

" _You don't have to yell Jecht, I'm right next to you," Braska stated. Jecht had an 'oh' expression on his face._

" _Rei's on the phone for you." Jecht handed Braska the phone._

" _Hey Rei."_

" _I need your help," she asked._

" _Anything wrong?" Braska asked._

" _I found a boy on the beach and is ill. I need your help."_

" _On my way over," he hung up the phone. "Rei needs my help Jecht. I have to go." Braska said before leaving Jecht stopped him with his arms folded._

" _Wait Braska. Take my son with you when you go."he said._

" _Why?" he asked raising his eyebrow._

" _He needs time away from me," Jecht said and he heard glass break. "And time needed away from not breaking all the dishes in our kitchen! Don't play ball in the house boy!," Tidus dropped the ball. The five year old blonde made his way over to Braska._

" _Are we going to see Rei?" Tidus asked._

" _Yes," Braska answered._

" _Good. Now get. I have evidence to clean up before your mother comes home and kills us both," angering Tidus' mother was the only thing Jecht and his son can agree on. Braska has never witnessed his mother's anger, but he never wanted to be a victim of circumstance._

" _Let's go," Braska said grabbing Tidus' hand leading him over to Rei's house._

 _Jecht sighed. 'That boy,' he thought._

 _(Sora P.O.V)_

 _My whole body felt warm and cold. Where am I. I didn't want to open my eyes. For some reason I couldn't open them yet. I was laying on something, but I didn't know what it was other than the fact it was soft. I curled over on my right side laying on my right shoulder. I then felt the darkness in my vision recede as painful as it was as if my eyes just grew. I slowly fluttered my eyes open. My vision was blurry and a few weak moans escaped my throat. Then I heard another voice. Actually three voices. One sounded high pitched, one was deep, and the final one was soft. Fluttering my eyes multiple times my once blurry vision was now clear and sharp. The soft voice spoke to me._

" _Hi," the girl said to me. "You feeling any better."_

 _I didn't know how to respond. Wait can I even speak. I tried to but couldn't. I looked around me and didn't know where I was._

" _You're in my home," she said to me. "I found you out on the shoreline. And brought you here. Can you tell me your name," she asked. I just sat there thinking, 'Name? What is that?' Do I even have a name? I just shrugged my shoulders because I didn't know._

" _My name is Rei," she said to me soothly. Rei. That's her name. Is that what a name is?_

 _She pointed to the other kid that looks young like me. The boy that has light colored hair. "That is Tidus," she said._

" _Hi," he said to me._

" _And this is Braska," Rei said to me. He waved to me. I wanted to say my name, but again I couldn't speak. It would not matter anyway because I couldn't speak. "Can you not speak," Rei asked me._

 _I shrugged my shoulders again._

 _Rei ran over and gave me a piece of paper and a pen. "Do you think you could write it out your name?"_

 _I took the paper and pen and wrote 'I don't have a name and I can't speak.' Rei looked shocked and froze in place. Braska took the paper from her and read it. While not as shocked as she was, he still looked like he took it hard._

" _What wrong," Tidus asked._

" _Tidus honey could you go wait here and keep him company. I need to talk with Braska." Why is she leaving?_

" _Ok," Tidus said. Tidus' voice has a lot of energy in it. Braska followed Rei into the kitchen. I looked down at myself and noticed several things about me. I look over at Tidus. He was just looking at me. I his blue eyes, light colored hair. I wonder what I must look like. I felt my own face by touching my cheek. Now I was really curious as to what I look like._

" _Dude you look as if you never saw yourself in a mirror before," Tidus said. He looked at me closer then said. "What? You really never saw yourself ever!? Everyone has seen themselves before." Well not me. No joke. I really wish I could speak!_

 _(Rei, Braska; Kitchen)_

" _What are we going to do?," Rei asked Braska. Braska folded his arms and put his hand on his chin. "There's always the orphanage," Braska said._

 _Rei nodded a 'no' "No. Anything but an orphanage."_

" _What's wrong with that idea?"_

" _Braska trust me when I say this. I have seen too many kids be put in an orphanage and neglected." Rei never liked the idea of an orphanage. It's a shame when there are so many kids neglected and not enough people are there to care for them._

" _Are you referring to Tidus' friend Wakka," Braska asked._

" _Not just Wakka," Rei took a deep breath and began to list off another name. "A sweet perky girl named Selphie."_

" _That little girl full of energy always running around the market making noise. That Selphie?"_

" _You know her?"_

" _I was out walking and I saw a little girl trip on her jump rope multiple, and for some reason I got hit in the face with one end of it." Rei giggled at that._

" _Well if he's not going to the orphanage where is he going to go? Certainly not foster care."_

" _He could stay with me," Rei said. "I mean we don't want him in an orphanage. We certainly don't want him around Jecht." They both nodded in unison._

" _A kid with no name and can't speak." they both felt bad for the young brunette boy. They walked back into the living room to find Sora sleeping on the couch._

" _Tidus we're going," Braska said._

" _Ok. Bye" Tidus said to his sleeping form._

 _After the door closed Rei walked over to the five year old sleeping on her couch. She sat down next to him and stroked his hair a few times. She decided to stay downstairs with him tonight to keep an eye on him. She couldn't help but smile. 'What should I call you?' She flinched a little when Rei stroked his hair, but he leaned into her touch. She felt her heart melt a little at the moment._

 _The next morning I was starting to stir and wake up. He woke up with Rei's arm around me, holding me close to her. It was warm, so I didn't mind it I just layed back and snuggled up to her and let myself drift back to sleep._

 _When I woke up again, I felt something poking me on the face. It was Rei. I lifted myself up and stretched my arms and legs out and yawned._

" _Time to get up," she said. "You hungry," I said no, but my stomach told her otherwise. "You look like you haven't eaten in days. She helped me onto my feet and brought me into her kitchen and made me something to eat. After having some eggs and juice she took me to get some new clothes. When I stepped outside I saw a very bright light. So bright that I shielded my eyes. After a while I looked around me I saw that light was everywhere. This is the first time I have ever experienced it. I felt wind blow across my face, and smelled everything around me._

" _I got a question for you," Rei asked me and I turned to face her. She knelt down in front of me and put her hands on my shoulders. "Since you're going to be staying with me for a while why don't we give you a name. Can't keep calling you 'boy' or saying 'you' right?"_

 _My own name? I would like one so I nodded 'yes'._

" _Ok. Well how about I name you after someone that I hold deeply close to my heart?" I nodded 'yes'. "Ok Sora."_

' _Sora,' I thought. I felt something crawl across my face. Turns out I grinned for the first time._

" _Ok Sora let's go get you some clothes."_

 _ **There you have it folks. How Sora got his name. And a little bit more insight into Sora/ Shadows origins and true nature. More plot development between Shadow and Yuna. Things will probably get more complicated as i'm writing this. I think this was needed because I haven't talked much about Shadow so I thought this will fit in perfectly before I get Kairi and her friends on their way. This whole chapter took place a decade before the events of the main adventure. Rei is very important in this story because she becomes Sora's mother which will be built upon later in the story. The next chapter will continue to center on Shadow and Yuna in Zanarkand.**_

 _ **Before I go, I think I will close the polls. Mainly because I haven't gotten as many votes as I wanted for the OC character. So I figured I use what votes and decisions that were made and go from there. The polls themselves were my very first polls for those who do not know, there was an update before this that outlined what I was using the polls for. This was voluntary for the OC character that I was planning on putting into the story. Again this was voluntary. The main reason I did this was to interact and communicate with my followers and viewers, to let you guys know that I also appreciate the support you guys have given me despite not updating this every other week.**_

 _ **So I'll say this again" "I have no intentions of stopping this story for anything."**_

 _ **If you have anything you'd like to talk about feel free to Private Message me and leave a review.**_

 _ **Take it easy guys :)**_


	13. Crash Landing

_**I hope everyone is having a wonderful day. If not then I have something that will lift your spirits up. Another chapter of this story. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I'll cut this preview text short because I'm terrible with them. Enjoy.**_

KH Chapter 12: Crash Landing

(Shadow, Yuna; Zanarkand)

Yuna was intrigued, amazed a quite perplexed from what Shadow had revealed about his past. The fact that that was him, well not him himself for a whole decade made her more interested in what he had to say. What really struck her was that he came from another world. Yuna internally was filled with excitement, even though she lacked any expression of emotion, she'd be lying to herself if she wasn't the least bit interested. "Why?" she asked him and he turned to face her emotionless face. "Why wait 10 years to take full control when you could've done it all those years ago?"

"Because of the memories of my past life," Shadow answered.

"Past life?" Yuna figured there would be more to his intentions than she originally thought, but shadow didn't say anymore as he kept on flying through the sky. She turned back to look at the oversoul he had created as it floated above the city. To her there had to be more to his intentions than just learning more about his past. She flew towards him as they flew through the night sky.

(Kairi, Riku; Traverse Town)

Everyone gathered in front of the accessory shop to greet Kairi, Riku, Donald and Goofy gdby as they were about to set off on their adventure together. This was really happening Kairi and Riku still couldn't believe it. They were finally going to see other worlds with their own eyes after years of staring up into the sky and laying in the sand together they were going to do it.

"We wish you four good luck. We hope you'll find your king and your friends," Leon said and they nodded in approval knowing that they could do it. "You'll know where to find us if you need us."

"Thank you guys for everything, and we'll come to you guys if anything goes wrong," Riku said.

Goofy let out a laugh that got their attention. "Are you ready fellas?"

"Yup," Donald said.

"Same here," Kairi said.

"Always," Riku smirked with confidence.

"All for one," Goofy started and "One for all." they all said together.

Leon and the others went back to their business after saying their goodbyes. He smiled for the first time in forever. This got Cid's attention. "What are you smilin about?"

"Kairi and Riku are something else," Leon said.

"You worried about em?"

"Can't say that I'm not. But they saved my life. That's got to mean something right?"

"Yeah I guess. They're still kids though in my eyes., Cid cried happily.

"They'll be ok," Aerith said smiling at her friends as they began to go about their business.

(Kairi P.O.V)

"Let's get goin," Goofy said with enthusiasm. He must be very excited to have me and Riku tag along with him and Donald. I was also kind of excited too, and Riku though he didn't look like it was also excited inside. Then a question came to me…

"Uhh quick question. How are we supposed to get to other worlds?" I asked them.

"Donald and I came here in a gummi ship." Goofy said. Still confused.

What is a gummi ship? They saw the confused look on our faces and thought it would be easier to show us than just tell us. We arrived at the ship and it looked kind of funny looking as if you were constructing something out of Legos. We went inside and they gave us a tour of the place. This ship was bigger inside than it was outside. There was also a bunch of boxes in numerous rooms that were clustered and cluttered.

"Uhhh, sorry. We need to make some space for you guys," Goofy said with an embarrassing smile.

"You do that and I'll prep the ship for takeoff," Donald said as he went to the bridge.

"We can help you with that," I said.

"Sure, Riku added. So we got to work and finished in an hour and in that hour we finished moving everything into one room Donald told us to strap into a chair.

"Hold onto your horses," Donald commanded. Now why would he… Ahhhh. The next thing we knew we were dropping down fast. I was gripping onto my seat and after nearly thirty seconds on what felt like an amusement park roller coaster it stopped. I still gripped my seat to make sure that it was safe to lessen my grip.

"Please give us a warning that when you say 'takeoff'," Riku asked.

Donald and Goofy were amused by our reactions and we sent glares of equal intensity at them. I got up and looked out at the open space. It looked more beautiful than I can imagine. Looking up at stars was one thing, but this takes it to a whole other level of awe. I put my hands on the glass and smiled in amazement. Sora would have loved to see this. Donald said we were going to be adrift for a while until the next world pops up on the radar. So we went about our business until then. There were now enough rooms for me and Riku now that we rearranged the clutter. I couldn't do much with it but I made do. I put the seashell in the compartment next to the bed and sat down on it. It was soft way softer than the couch I slept on the past two days. I laid down taking off my boots and glove. I fell asleep not knowing it.

Riku was passing down the hallways of the ship and spotted his red-haired friend had fallen asleep, he went to her door and closed it slowly so as to not wake her up. "Good night," he whistled away from the door and joined Donald and Goofy on the bridge. "Hey guys,".

"Where's Kairi?," Goofy asked him.

"She fell asleep. I think she's still recovering her head trauma."

"She did get hit pretty hard. I hope she'll be ok," Goofy said.

"Kai just needs a few hours of rest."

"When she wakes up we can help her then if she needs it." They all nodded. Riku sat in one of the bridge seats and just enjoyed the view.

"Donald, Goofy!," Chip and Dale appeared on the screen. "How you two doin? Everything alright?"

"Yup we're all good fellas," Goofy said. "We've picked up some new friends," Goofy said as Riku waved to the two chipmunks not really sure of who they are.

"Please to meet you I'm Chip," he said. "I'm Dale."

"Hi I'm Riku."

"Nice to meet. We're the ships gummi engineers and navigators. Her majesty asked us to check up on you two or three to see if you're alright. Did you find Leon?"

"We did. And the King _was_ there," Goofy said to them. Chip and Dale had sad looks on their faces. "But we know he's still out there. We won't stop until we find him!"

"Yeah," Donald said. Riku was taken aback by their enthusiasm. _'The idea of never giving up.'_ It made Riku smile and made him hope that if Donald and Goofy are determined to find their King then he must hold onto that same hope. "Hey Riku you ok?" Donald asked.

"Oh… Sorry lost in thought."

"What were you thinking about?"

"Honestly it's nothing important at the moment," Riku said. Donald and Goofy just shrugged their shoulders. They looked back at him. "Seriously it's nothing," Riku put on a fake smile.

"Anyway we promise we'll find him. Let the Queen and Daisy know this will take longer than expected," Donald said.

"Alright. And remember to give us a shout when you need us." "WE REALLY ARE COUNTING ON YOU GUYS!," Chip and Dale hung up afterward.

Riku laughed a little under his breath "Those two are funny. In a good way."

"If you think they're funny then you'll have to come to Disney Town when we have the time. Everyone there knows how to party!" Goofy said.

"Sounds like it can be a festive beach party. My friends and I always threw parties on the island we played on. It wasn't crazy like over the top, it's just what it felt like. The water, the sun, the sand, getting dunked by your friend over and over and over," Riku nearly drowned when they decided to pull stunts like that on each other. "Ok maybe at times they did get out of control" Donald and Goofy snickered. "Alright keep laughing, just keep on laughing. Uhhh guys don't we some friends to find?"

An 'oh right' look spread across their faces. "The first world we come across is where we'll start lookin. Could be a while so rest up while you can could be a while." The ship was set to auto pilot and everyone went to go get some shut eye for when they wake up their adventure would unravel right before their eyes. Time to confront what lies ahead.

Kairi woke up in the middle of the night got up and went to sit on the bridge. She fell asleep unintentionally. She didn't mean to fall asleep but for some reason she couldn't help it. She sort stumbled on her way there. She was dragging herself slowly down the hall but stopped when she heard someone behind her. "You don't look so good," Kairi turned around and saw Riku standing behind her.

"I didn't wake you did I?," she asked him looking like she was about to pass out. She caught herself on the wall.

"Actually I heard you scraping the floor with your feet," Riku said. Kairi laughed a little but soon found herself sliding down the wall to a sitting position on the floor. Riku made his way to her. "Kairi need to go back to bed."

In truth she couldn't. "I can't sleep bad dream," she said.

(Yawn) Riku was getting tired himself "About what?"

"I think I saw Sora. He was floating in nothingness and he was sleeping. In my dreamed I yelled trying to wake him up but he wasn't.," Kairi said causing Riku to raise his eyebrow at her.

"Reminds me of our hospital visits," Riku said. Both of them never wanted to be reminded of those cursed visits. That was when Sora was in his coma of course.

"After that," Kairi continued on "I felt darkness emanating from him, he stared at me with evil eyes that were yellow. You were swallowed by the darkness and Sora just…" Kairi bought her hands to her head to ease the headache that was forming in her head as she tried to block out the images that were coming from what seemed to be in front of her.

"Hey, hey it's alright. I'm not going anywhere. We'll find Sora and make things right."

"Yeah."

"Now let's some sleep it shouldn't be long before," Riku was interrupted when the ship's alarm went off. "What the-," the ship began to shake uncontrollably through space. This woke Donald and Goofy up and they rushed down the hall meeting them.

"What is going on!?" Donald yelled.

"We don't know ahhh," Riku and everyone else hit the ceiling it felt like they were traveling fast in one direction.

"Whaaat are going to do!," Goofy yelled. Donald reached for the button that controls the gravity causing everything to float in the air.

They floated their way to the bridge and couldn't see anything because it felt like the windshield was going to break. "Come on work. Work. The system is not responding!" Goofy said.

"Well our goose is cooked!,"Riku said.

"Really!? Now!?" Donald yelled

"You're a duck!"

Kairi interrupted them. "Uhhh guy's ship now!"

"It's not use nothing is responding we have to abandon ship to the escape pods hurry!" Goofy said.

They made their way to the escape pods and were jettisoned to who knows where and watched as the ship burn up in fire as it went through break neck speed. Then they were enveloped by a bright light.

 _ **Finally finished with this chapter. Now for my favorite part. The first world finally going to get to it after months of writer's block! Now you guys get to have the fun part guessing what kind of world I'm start with. I know it's been a month since I have posted anything for this story so thank you guys for hanging around. Also I have posted another fanfic for you guys to check out called Bleach: The New Frontier. So please check that out when you have the time or if you are interested**_

 _ **As always feel free to Private Message (PM) me or leave a review. Thank and see you all soon. Bye :)**_


	14. Emptiness

_**Cutting the introduction short. I'll try harder in the future to make better ones.**_

 _Kh A Light in the Dark Chapter 13: Emptiness_

 _(11 years ago)_

 _Sora was sitting on the couch waiting for Rei. He didn't know how he felt about him. To Sora he seemed friendly enough to him, and he didn't mean any harm. He was still in the same clothes Rei dressed him in the night before. The same sweat clothes he slept in throughout the night before. He still felt the warmth of comfort Rei gave him. Sora felt lost, no parents, no friends, it was just him and him alone. Now with Rei next to him and someone his age he didn't feel alone anymore, assuming he felt anything at all. So many thoughts he didn't know he had raced through his mind as he sat there mindlessly._

" _Sora. Are you ready?" Sora snapped out of his thoughts and looked up at Rei who gave him a beaming smile. Sora shook his head in a nod saying 'yes'. He hopped off the couch and grabbed Rei's hand as they left out the door. The sun took some use of Sora getting use to. After a while it felt nice and the wind blowing on his face bought some nice feelings as it touched him from his forehead to his feet._

" _Hi Ms. Rei!," Rei turned around and saw Selphie running up to her in her yellow dress. She was about the same age as Sora. Selphie ran up and hugged Rei tightly completely being oblivious that Sora was holding Rei's other hand._

" _Hi Selphie," Rei bought her other arm around Selphie. "How are you doing this morning?"_

" _Happy!," she cried. All Rei did was smile._

 _Selphie turned to look at Sora who just stared at mindlessly. "Who is he?"_

 _Rei bought Sora in front of Selphie and put her hands on Sora's shoulders. "Selphie meet Sora. Sora meet Selphie." Sora gave a small wave to her._

" _Hi."_

" _Selphie why don't you come with us to Tidus'. I'm sure he'll want to play and not be near his father. "You three can play on the island together." Rei use to play on the same island that Sora and his friends play on today. Rei knelt down in front of Sora "This will give you a chance to get to know them. Tidus and Selphie are kind. Ok?" Rei said and smiled at the young brunette who just stared at her aimlessly as if he had wandered far off. The walk to Tidus' was silent, but when they got there… well…_

" _Damn it boy! Your mother is going to freak when she sees this. I keep telling you not to play ball in here!." screamed Jecht._

" _Dad you told me I should be practicing," said Tidus who picked up his blitzball._

" _OUTSIDE!," Jecht yelled. Jecht heard the door open to see Rei and the children standing there as the scene looked like it was in the middle of rolling._

" _Good you're here. Can you take Tidus to the island, so he could…. I don't know learn where to and not play!?" Rei sighed as Tidus walked up to her. This was very commonplace in Tidus' household. Sora was just as confused as the rest of them. Tidus really wanted to get out of there._

" _I came here for him anyway so he could play with Selphie and Sora,"Rei said. "Tidus has already met him." Jecht looked at Sora and the little boy just stood there looking at him. Sora did eventually wave to him. Tidus waved to Sora and he remembered him pretty well from the other day._

" _See ya!," Tidus said running out the door past everyone._

" _That boy," Jecht growled._

" _You brought him into this world. Remember that," Rei said turning around and exiting the house. "Good morning by the way," she put on a gleeful smile then shutting the door._

 _Jecht exhaled out of grief._

 _Rei took the three kids to the boat and rowed them towards the island. Sora just sat in the boat looking out into the horizon mindlessly wondering if there was anything beyond._

' _Sora,' he thought back to himself. 'That's my name?' He put his hand in the water waving it back and forth with and against the tides. It felt refreshing to him, his first time feeling water consensually. The air, warmth, water, having a name, and unknowingly making friends. Who or what else was he going to experience. Whatever it was he wanted to experience more of it._

 _Rei looked back at Sora with a worried look. He looked as if he had been born yesterday. She doesn't know why but that is what it feels like to her. No named parents, home, not even a name made Rei feel sorry for him. She looked at him and the look in his eyes look so distant. Was Sora ill, did he have amnesia, was he depressed? She put those questions aside She turned around and docked the boat when they reached the island. Selphie jumped out and Tidus followed with her. Sora was the last to get out and Rei looked him in the eyes "I got some errands I need to run. You can play with Selphie and Tidus here ok."_

 _Sora nodded in understandment. Rei pulled Sora in for a hug and Sora remembered the warmth she provided for him when she nursed him back to health yesterday. On some kind of instinct Sora bought his arms around Rei returning the embrace, not as tight as her but it was a start. Sora felt kind of weird. A good kind of weird. Rei left leaving Sora to play with his new friends. Sora looked down at his feet real quick. 'What is this?' it was soft and Sora wiggled the sand in between his toes, it felt like a blanket. He actually decided to lie down in the sand on his back and take in everything around him. He drifted to sleep._

(Present Day)

Kairi began to wake up. She was the first to do so. She found her friends following suit. She and the others tried to shake off their minor injuries. Surprisingly they had minor injuries. "Everyone ok?," she asked.

"I'm good," Riku said.

"Yup all good. Uhhh has anyone seen Donald?" Goofy asked.

"Get off of me," Donald muffled. Goofy landed right on top of him. Goofy got off of his fellow companion. "Does anyone know where we are?"

"If I had to guess we landed on some kind of world." Goofy said.

"What happened to the ship? Did anyone see it?" They searched in the bushes around them and found their ship tangled up in a clearing. It burned up in the worlds atmosphere. "Well this is just great!," Donald yelled "Now we're stuck here with no ship!"

"Well it could be worse," Kairi said. She jinxed it and several Heartless appeared around them.

"Kai did you really have to jinx it!," Riku said summoning Ward of Dawn and slashed a neo shadow that tried to jump him.

"Wasn't intentional," Kairi drew Destiny's Embrace and got into her stance. Donald and Goofy drew their weapons and went to town on the attacking heartless. This time these heartless looked different, but it did not matter all the same. Kairi spun around and slashed a rapid thruster that charged at her and there were several more where that came from. Donald casted Thunder around them and it destroyed several more of them. Riku was busy dealing with the biggest one, the Assault Raider, that tried to hack his head off, but Riku jumped back and slashed a rapid thruster in the process. The Assault Rider then charged forward in a fury to pierce Riku's chest, but Goofy tossed his shield knocking the lance out of it's hands. The Assault Rider stubbornly continued to charge at Riku and Riku dodge rolled out of the way causing the horse heartless to hit the ship. The ship got knocked out of the foliage and a piece of it fell off.

"Hey watch the ship!," Donald yelled.

"Sorry," Riku said sheepishly with a grin of guilty innocence. The Assault Rider recovered so Riku acted right away before it could make it's next move Riku charged forward in an attempt to slash it, causing it to fade. Riku rushed over to help him and the others. There were so many Rapid Thrusters, and to them it seems never ending. Kairi kept hacking away from them as Donald kept casting magic spells, and Goofy blocked their attacks and knocked them away. Riku rushed to them and slashed a heartless that was about to strike Kairi in the back. The auburn turned around and appreciate his help. Then for some reason they all retreated back into darkness. Every single one of them. All four of them were left confused as to what just happened.

"They're gone," Donald said.

"Do you think they got scared and ran away?" Kairi asked but doubted the possibility.

"Don't know, and really do not care. I just hope they don't come back any time soon," Riku said. They all turned their attention to the very damaged gummi ship. "So what now? We don't have a ship."

"Let's head inside and see what we can find. Maybe we can salvage somethin," Goofy said. They all nodded to each other and headed inside. They had to pull the ramp down together, but it wasn't budging. "Well not gettin in that way." Goofy scratched the side of his head.

"Well we'll have to improvise," Kairi said heading over to pick up a rock. "The windshield is already cracked. So we'll have to get in the ship that way." Kairi said seeing as there was no other way in. Kairi threw the rock at the windshield of the ship, but it had little effect. So Donald had conjured up a giant ice ball and slammed it into the ships window. It worked so they all climbed the bamboo shoots and made their way into the ship. Once they were in what they came across was a mess. The panels were fried and small parts were scattered everywhere. There was no way to contact for help either.

"What the hell would cause the ship to malfunction like this?," Riku asked.

"Whatever caused it did a number on it. Let's see if we can scavenge anything." Donald said. If they could the ship was literally the definition of a ship wreck. Most things looked liked they burned up as the ship sped through the atmosphere. They went into the rooms where they moved all of the equipment and luckily for them they had the essentials but that was it. But the gummis were enough to ensure that the ship would be optimized for competent space travel.

"Well this is all we have. But it will be enough to get us back into the air and out of here," Donald said.

"Where is 'here'?" Kairi asked.

"Do you think we should go have a look around?" Riku asked.

"I suppose that would be ok. Just make sure that you and Kairi stay safe. The Heartless may still be prowling around. Meanwhile Donald and I will stay here and fix the ship," Goofy said.

"You too! We'll be back as soon as we can," Kairi yelled.

As Kairi and Riku left, they were not aware that someone was watching them. It wasn't a heartless, but he was acting as some sort of scout. The scout continued to watch as Kairi and Riku left. The scout left to report back to his leader.

A considerable walk away the scout entered the tent and gave his report.

"Interesting. Bring me my advisor," he said and Pete entered the tent. "My scouts have identified some interesting figures. I hope that you can be of some importance," the leader said.

"Well what seems to be the problem. Shan-Yu?" Shan grinned darkly and his eyes turned yellow.

 _ **Well here it is the first world! Sorry if I haven't uploaded anything in over a month.**_

 _ **If this chapter feels like it is all over the place that's because there is a lot of information within the first half that if you would like me to explain to you guys individually so as to not spoil it for anyone else. Like always please feel free to Private Message me and leave a review. I have been very busy with finals coming up, and my brain and creative process have not been working with me so I apologize for the long wait. As always thank you guys for hanging around.**_

 _ **Important question for you guys: What was in your opinion the best Final Fantasy game?**_

 _ **For me it was Final Fantasy 8 personally.**_

 _ **Cya :)**_


	15. Dreams or Memory

_**Sorry for not uploading for the longest time. I really haven't had the motivation to write anything, plus my personal life intervened so I apologize for any inconvenience. I felt overwhelmed my mind was not in a stable position when I sat down on what to write so my energy was diverted to more than one place. But here it is. CHAPTER 14: Dreams or Memories is the name. Enjoy.**_

(Kairi, Riku; Land of Dragons)

Riku and Kairi were able to make their way out of the bamboo forest and onto a dirt trail near a cliffside. They followed the trail a ways up to find a village completely and utterly destroyed. It was burnt to the ground. The smell of burnt wood and smoke filled the air and soot coated the ground.

"What happened here?" Kairi asked. Riku walked over to a destroyed home and found something lodged into the wood. It was an arrow, well there were more arrows in the ground as he looked around the village.

"Some kind of battle maybe," he said.

"Sure looks that way."

"Think it was the Heartless?"

"I doubt a Heartless would smart enough to use wooden arrows," Kairi said picking it up. "Arrows that are well crafted, and that look like they can pierce humans," Kairi gulped.

"Well if not the Heartless then what? Bandits?" Riku said. Then they heard a twig snap and put themselves back to back with each other checking their surroundings.

"What was that?," Kairi whispered. A few more seconds passed before an explosion went off right next to them. Riku went one way while Kairi went the other taking cover behind what few twigs of cover were at their possession. "Where did that come from!," she yelled She spotted something up on the hill and it looked they were aiming something at… "Riku behind you!," she shouted. "Whaa," was all he could say before the explosion went off next to him nearly hitting him. He ran a bit closer to Kairi's position. While doing so an arrow was shot at him nearly missing his head by a centimeter. Kairi got a closer look at who was shooting them. "Think they're the ones who who did this!?" she was referring to the men on the hill

Riku looking back at her saying "Sure looks that way." Riku looked back up at them and gasped as they were about to fire again. "MOVE NOW," he yelled as the explosion pushed them off the cliff and into the forest below.

"You ok."

"Yeah Kairi" replied trying to pick herself up off her left side and yelped painfully as a gash formed in her right arm.

"That looks bad. And we don't have anything to treat that." Riku helped her up.

Kairi just remembered something her father had taught her when she was little. She raised her right hand over her bloody left and a white mist began to form. It burns just a little but when she was done it won't hurt as much.

"Whoa where did you learn that,", Riku asked.

"My father taught me some white magic when he adopted me. I haven't practiced it in a while." Kairi was able to nullify some of the pain and got back onto her feet.

"Well don't overexert yourself."

"Why think I can't handle myself? I'll be fine." she said

"Suit yourself. Let's go those guys that attacked are probably coming for us."

Another voice called out to the two of them a feminine one. "Do you two need some help," they turned to a woman with short hair. "I can help guide you two out of here. My campsite isn't far from here."

"Any place is better than here," Kairi said and Riku nodded in approval.

"I'm Mulan by the way," she held our hand out for them to shake.

"I'm Kairi."

"I'm Riku."

(Kairi P.O.V)

Mulan led us back to her campsite and tended to my punctured arm. She rinsed my arm and applied a white cloth over. It was still going to hurt for another day or so, but it's way better than being hit in the head twice in less than a few days. "Thanks," I said.

"My pleasure," Mulan said. "Uhh are you two from around here?"

"Why would you ask that?" Riku asked leaning against the tree.

"Well you're dressed differently compared to the people around here. And don't take this the wrong way but you aren't the only outlandish figure here. We get plenty of them," Mulan stated going back into her tent and putting her medical stuff away. I looked back at Riku

 _What did she mean by that?_ I thought. Was she referring to the Heartless or those men that attacked us? Could it be both

"Well…," Mulan said in a tone that meant for us to answer her question. Why the hell not…

But first "Why are you being so... pushy with the questions."

Mulan rubbed the temples in her head "Ok look. A bunch of creatures attacked my home recently. You can say that I'm a little paranoid right now." Definity it's the Heartless. "Not to mention the Hun army has conquered and destroyed man villages." Ok make that two problems

"Villages? Hun army? Like the one back from where you found us!?" Riku asked with a higher voice. "They did that!?" Mulan gave us a dreadful look that we didn't need an answer for. Oh my god, all those people.

"Wait. Why are you out here if you know it's so dangerous?" I asked her.

"With those creatures around no place is safe. They practically show up out of nowhere and swallow everything in sight. For survivors like me it's best to keep going. The only safe place is the Imperial City. And that's miles from here," Mulan stated.

"Perhaps we could be of some assistance to you," I said. This was right thing to do. This place really isn't safe but there is one temporary place that could be a sanctuary for her. After all we're all trying to survive. She helped us and we help her in return.

"How?," Mulan asked.

"Our friends are back that direction up the cliffside in the forest. Since there is nothing out here for miles perhaps you could stay with us until we know what to do," I proposed to her and she gave a smile of untold relief as if she hasn't taken a breath in years.

"I'd like that. We could start tomorrow when you're ready," she seemed to relax more and proceeded back into her tent. I guess we could relax a bit too, but then a sudden flash happened before my eyes, flickering like someone playing with the lights. The image of what I saw was making my heart jump. It was of Sora? No something else. The image popped in front of me again and it was of 'Shadow'. He flickered his yellow demonic eyes at me, then they became red and stared at me with emptiness, blood, some kind of evil aura surrounded him. And it frightened me.

"Kairi. Kairi! Hello Earth to Kairi!"

"Whaa," I hadn't even noticed I had spaced out. That image. Was it really Sora?

"You look like you've seen a ghost," Riku said and I was just amused. Because in a way it was true. Not that Sora was dead or anything of that nature. I could just feel him.

"I must be just tired," I yawned.

"Same here," Riku yawned too. "But it from me having to carry you around."

"Are you implying that I'm big?" I huffed.

"No! No!," Riku waved his hands defensively.

"I'm just joking," I smiled at him and we just laughed with each other. Haven't laughed like that in a while. "Well let's go to bed."

"Alright. I'll keep first watch. You get some sleep." Riku said and I nodded.

I went inside Mulan's tent and went to sleep.

(Hun's)

Shan-Yu was sitting in his tent sharpening his blade alone. He grinned sinisterly and evilly. He dreamed of this day to come for some time. They day where he would overthrow the Imperial government and seize it as his own. It was made more easily to destroy his enemy with Pete introducing the Heartless. He felt almost nothing could halt his campaign of destruction. Until Pete warned him of another threat.

Kairi, Riku, Donald, and Goofy.

A scout returned to hopefully give Shan-Yu pleasing news. The scout was greeted with a very dark and menacing glare from Shan-Yu. The scout was frightened, even terrified, but he gave Shan-Yu his report.

"Sir… We had them cornered ready to blast them. But," he froze as an ominous wind blew threw. The scout didn't need to say anymore to Shan-Yu. The leader of the Hun army stabbed his scout incessantly for his failure. Again, again, and again until he stopped screaming. The echo of the screams could be heard throughout the camp. Everyone at their base felt terrified as they saw blood leaking out of the entrance to Shan-Yu's tent. Pete started getting goosebumps, but he wasn't worried. This was part of his plan of turing Shan-Yu into a Heartless. A heart filled with anger and malicious intent, a lust for power already drove Shan-Yu to the point. Pete smiled confidently at his work. Now all he needed was a little push. Pete sneaked off somewhere because he had to make a very important call to make.

"Ahh Pete. Everything goes well I take it?" Maleficent said.

"Everything is going as planned. Shan-Yu is turning out to be the perfect puppet. He will be ours in not time. But I ran into a 'little' situation. Those keyblade brats and the King's buddies are prowling around these parts."

"No matter Pete. Those fools won't be able to stand against us once the plan comes full circle. By the time they find out our plan, this world will be consumed by the darkness," Maleficent grinned maliciously as she turned away from Pete.

(Kairi, Mulan, Riku)

It took them all the next day to make their way back to Donald and Goofy and after miles of walking they found their ship in the same position it was in the previous day "Donald. Goofy you two up there?" Riku yelled into the cockpit Mulan stared into the ship. It wasn't like anything she had ever seen before. Donald popped up from the cockpit and saw the three of them

"You two ok up there?" he asked taking a few steps toward.

"We're fine," Donald said as a piece of the ship fell off. "Oh and the ship is fine too," the duck laughed nervously. "Kairi what happened to you?" Donald was referring to Kairi's bandaged arm .

Kairi raised her undamaged arm to her injured one. "Riku and I got attacked and we fell of a cliffside. Oh and we made a friend."

"I'm Mulan," she bowed.

"Donald Duck," Donald replied.

"Hey where's Goofy," Kairi asked.

"Right here fellas. Nice to meet you ma'am ," Goofy stood right beside Donald. The gang was all here, so Kairi, Riku, and Mulan decided to give Donald and Goofy the rundown and what their situation was.

"So we are basically stuck in a apocalyptic war between the heartless, people called the huns with barely anyone able to help ups?" Donald summarized.

"That and our ship is damaged. What are we going to do?"

"I'd say we leave the ship but after our encounter with the Huns and Heartless, that idea is thrown out the window." Riku said.

"Well we certainly can't stay here," Donald said as the sun set. Everyone turned to see it. The colors and how they blended into the most beautiful shade of red.

"It's getting dark out. Staying here until the next morning it our best option. We can head toward the imperial city tomorrow providing we don't stop for anything."

"How far away is the city?" she asked.

"About two days."

"Someone is going to have to stay with the ship until we get some help," Goofy said. "Hoping we can find some."

"The city is our best shot, plus I'm… whoa," Kairi's tone changed and she began wobbling back and forth She was getting drowsy a feeling she was all too familiar with.

Riku caught her "Are you still drowsy from the other day?"

"No I'm fine," Kairi nearly stumbled over again.

"No you're not. Perhaps it's better if you stay here," but Kairi persisted and maintained her composure.

"'I'll be fine guys really." she let out a small smile. Seeing as there was no arguing with her they caved into her demands. She still felt very drowsy seeing as she hasn't had any actual sleep in the past couple of days. Then she felt a large thump within her chest. Her heart ached for some reason, but she was able to make it subtle so others wouldn't notice. It was hurting so much. Why?

"Alright," Riku said "if you say so." He cast one last glance at Kairi, he knew her too well to know she was not ok. He would have to ask her about what was really bothering her, but until then he would wait until they were alone in private. Something told him that this was something they needed to be alone to discuss. Donald and Goofy were in this together but this might make it a bit more comfortable for both him and Kairi.

Everyone settled down into their respective spots, the best way they could and everyone went to sleep.

 _(Dream)_

 _Sora stood down into the warm sand that coated his feet and fell between his toes. He wiggled them up and down left to right continuously. The five year old sat down playing with it in his hands now. Making little pictures with his fingers. It felt nice to him, though he couldn't really feel any sort of emotion behind how it felt physically. He saw Wakka, Selphie, and Tidus talking to each other. But he looked past them and saw a area that was of particular interest to him._

" _Hey Sora," Tidus called and beckoned for him to come over. Sora turned his attention away from the partially covered by the trees and bushes and made his way over towards the three people he was suppose to be hanging out with. Tidus looked at Sora closely and observed the way he was walking. He saw Sora walking slowly, small footsteps and his eyes looked partially distant as if they weren't on them despite the fact that the front of Sora's body was facing them. Wakka and Selphie didn't seem to notice, but Tidus met him just last night and as observant as he was took note about Sora's mannerism and body language. Sora didn't look excited or happy at all. The vibe around him was just still and not going anywhere. But Tidus knew he couldn't blame him. No one could. 'How are you like this Sora?' he asked himself. "Wakka this is Sora."_

" _Hi nice to meet you brudda," Wakka bowed his head. Surprisingly Sora did the same but slower and was a bit more lazy about it. Wakka didn't care. "How you feelin bro?" Sora shrugged his shoulders still not being able to talk. Sora guessed he felt well just fine._

" _He can't talk Wakka. He's a mute,"Tidus said, but something told him he was only partially correct, but he could accurately read what Sora was trying to say. Wakka had an 'oh' expression on his face. Tidus stood next to Sora "Rei found him washed up on the shoreline last night. She called Braska over last night to help heal him."_

" _Sorry to hear that," Wakka said apologetically. Sora shook his head saying there was no reason for him to apologize. Sora's face was just blank._

" _You'll like it here! It will get more exciting when Riku gets here later. We'll show you around the island when he gets here!," Selphie said as she jumped for joy. Till then the three of them just talked and laughed and showed Sora a few of the activities they like to do. Selphie said she liked to jump rope. To everyone's surprise Sora didn't know what half of these activities were._

' _Must not have had this where he came from,' Tidus thought. But instead of judging Sora they taught him how to jump rope, play blitzball. Selphie grabbed her jump rope from the shack and dragged Sora to the middle while Tidus grabbed one end._

" _All you have to do jump as the rope is about to come under your feet," Selphie explained to him. Seemed self- explanatory to Sora well enough. So they did a test run they bought the rope around and beneath his feet and Sora jumped just high enough to the point where the rope was stuck underneath the heel of his foot. Not a lot of energy was put into his jump. Sora looked up at him with the look that said 'like this'. "You did good. Want to try again?" Sora nodded and tried again. But this time his jump was much higher where the rope wasn't caught underneath his foot. "You're getting it." Sora jumped continuously and it was starting to become second nature to him. He jumped high and his blood was pumping rapidly with the rhythm of the jumps. He didn't seem to tire out at all but Selphie and Tidus were getting tired from rotating the rope for about five minutes and Sora wasn't tired and not breathing heavily like they were. '_

 _Not breathing heavily? What? Why wasn't Sora breathing. Why wasn't he tired?' Tidus asked himself. 'Was there something wrong with Sora?' "Aren't you tired Sora," Tidus asked catching his breath, while Sora replied with a shrug._

" _Nice work. You learn fast." Selphie a girl full of energy needed to take a breather for a moment. She has never met anyone who could keep up with her. There were days where Tidus and Wakka would just collapse on the ground from trying to outpace Selphie. But Wakka and Tidus just giggled at what happened before their eyes. Someone finally wore Selphie out._

 _After taking a break they all went to the water to swim. Sora immediately was the first to go in without hesitation. He naturally floated in the water just staring up into the clear blue skies. He didn't panic he just laid there. Selphie, Wakka, Tidus were playing with a blitzball in the water, but after a while they turned to look at Sora continued to stare into the sky, oblivious to everything around him, or another way of looking at it would be if there was nothing around him at all. He was light as a feather, but that was probably from him not eating but, like said he was a feather. Tidus swam over to him and floated next to him. Sora was the first person that, when Tidus thought about it for a second caught some kind of interest to him. He didn't act like most kids his age. Something told Tidus deep down that there was something truly unique about Sora. In more ways than one. Sora looked so graceful to Tidus, Wakka and Selphie felt something similar._

 _Tidus smiled at him, which caught Sora off guard. A small pang of pain had poked Sora within his chest. But it was a good kind of pain that he sort of welcomed. He finally realized that they were all staring at him and embarrassment was written on Sora's face. 'Why were they looking at me like that?" If Sora could blush from attention at his current age he would, but deep inside he was._

" _Do you want to play blitzball with us?," Tidus asked the young spiky brunette._

 _After thinking for a while he nodded 'yes' so the two of them swam back to their friends and played. Sora like when it came to jump roping understood what the basics of the game. Tidus was good, but Sora was more than that. He was 'amazing.' Selphie passed him the ball, Wakka came to intercept it but was surprised by Sora's strength and stamina to maneuver in water. He flipped over Wakka's back and caught the ball then jet himself towards the goal Tidus was racing back towards Sora threw it to the goal before Tidus could catch it with his fingertips. Wakka and Tidus lost, but in the end they couldn't help but all laugh. Selphie was laughing too. The four of them were having nothing but fun. And they enjoyed their first few hours that would soon become days together._

(Kairi's room)

Kairi slowly opened her eyes and laid up from her bed. She just woke up from having a dream that showed her friends: Wakka, Tidus, Selphie, and Sora that looked as if they had met that day. On their island when they were little. But she wasn't there. ' _What was that dream? Was it more than than just that. It somehow felt so real. All of it.'_ The auburn got up from her bed and went to find Riku's room. She walked slowly and knocked on his door. Riku got up and rubbed the sleep out of his eye and saw her standing right there.

"Hey Kai what's up," Riku asked.

"Do you mind if we talk for a moment?" Kairi asked.

"Sure," Riku said and he invited her in. She sat down on the bed next to him. "So what did you want to talk about?"

"It's about Sora…" she said and Riku cocked his brow at this. "I want to ask you something. What was Sora like when you first met him?"

Riku scratched the back of his head but he remembered how Sora was when they first met. "He was quiet, reserved, and well blank."

"What do you mean by 'blank'?" she asked.

"When I first saw him he just looked distant in the eyes. It's like he was staring into a blank wall. He paid attention when someone called him, but when he responded he just walked very slowly, and quietly. Not like how he was as he grew up. What does this have to do with Sora?" Riku asked.

"I recently had a dream with Rei, Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka, my father, and Sora in it recently. When they all first met. Even though I wasn't there I felt everything that happened them happened to me too. The silence, the laughter, love, excitement. I felt it all. When I felt Sora it was like a void, empty, as if I felt everything for the first time in my life. The water, the sand, but I didn't understand why I felt that way or whether it was Sora that was feeling it. Does that mean anything to you?"

"A little I guess. It's not easy for me feel what he's feeling but, I knew whatever he was feeling were the feeling that come with life the good and bad."

"I see. Well I'm going back to bed."

"Alright," Riku yawned. "See you in the morning," as Kairi left his room Riku was put off by her questions. 'Maybe it's just the stress or something else was transpiring and we didn't know about it. Maybe I just need to get some sleep.' Riku fell asleep instantly.

Kairi meanwhile sat on her bed just taking steady breaths before clapping her hands together 'Those feelings felt real. The dreams felt real. Everyone involved in it felt real. What was it a dream or a memory.' Finally realizing that the frustration was getting to her she let it all go for tonight and pulled the covers over her frame. She closed her eyes, but opened them briefly to ask herself. 'That wasn't really Sora. Was it? Sora I promise Riku and I will bring you back. No matter what it takes.' she promised herself.

 _ **There it is chapter 14. I posted this late at night because I finally got my creativity going again. I really am sorry for the long delay. Like I said I felt overwhelmed and need a mental break. I'll try working on this more frequently.**_

 _ **So apologies aside how did you guys like the chapter? I added more to Sora's mythos and origin for those who are interested. I actually enjoyed writing that dream. It helped me get my creativity flowing again. So I'm going to end the conclusion here. If you ever want to talk to me about the story feel free to leave a review and Private Message(PM) me, and I'll reply as soon I am able to.**_

 _ **Thank's guys and take it easy.**_

 _ **Question for the audience: What if your favorite fanfiction genre?**_

 _ **My answer is hurt/comfort.**_


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